Diet Quality, Diet Diversity, Food Insecurity, and WIC Participation Among Infants Enrolled in a Home Visiting Program

Main Article Content

Reid Bradley
Cathy Stough

Abstract

Record ID: 207


Award(s): Excellence in Undergraduate Research Mentorship


Program Affiliation: NA


Presentation Type: Poster


Abstract: We aimed to evaluate whether diet diversity and quality in infants at-risk for health disparities and enrolled in a home visiting program associated with food insecurity and participation in the Special Supplemental Nutrition for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program. Twenty-eight mother-infant dyads completed three 24-hour diet recalls via phone when infants were 9 months old as part of a pilot randomized controlled trial examining efficacy of an infant obesity prevention program. Dyads were recruited from Every Child Succeeds, a home visiting program to promote parenting skills and healthy development in families with young children. Diet recall data were used to calculate the USDA Healthy Eating Index (HEI), which measures diet quality (range 0-100) and the World Health Organization Minimum Diet Diversity (MDD) score to assess infant diet diversity.Infants were diverse in race/ethnicity (40% Hispanic, 20% Non-Hispanic Black), and most families were low income (80% <$30k) and enrolled in the WIC program (73%). Only 53.6% experienced high food security. Average HEI score was 47.04 (SD = 7.34), and 75% of children met MDD criteria. Diet diversity and quality didn't relate to food security (p= .46, p= .12, respectively) or participation in the WIC program (both p=.87).Infants participating in a home visiting program displayed adequate levels of diet diversity. Infants also showed diet quality similar to national samples, but because the HEI measures used haven't been adapted to populations under two, the results may not be accurate.

Article Details

Section
Cincinnati Matters
Author Biography

Reid Bradley

Major: Political Science