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Barriers to Accessing Healthy Food and Food Assistance During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Racial Justice Uprisings: A Mixed-Methods Investigation of Emerging Adults’ Experiences

BACKGROUND: A steep rise in food insecurity is among the most pressing US public health problems that has resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to (1) describe how food-insecure emerging adults are adapting their eating and child-feeding behaviors during COVID-19 and (2) i...

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Autores principales: Larson, Nicole, Alexander, Tricia, Slaughter-Acey, Jaime C., Berge, Jerica, Widome, Rachel, Neumark-Sztainer, Dianne
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8373666/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34294591
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2021.05.018
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author Larson, Nicole
Alexander, Tricia
Slaughter-Acey, Jaime C.
Berge, Jerica
Widome, Rachel
Neumark-Sztainer, Dianne
author_facet Larson, Nicole
Alexander, Tricia
Slaughter-Acey, Jaime C.
Berge, Jerica
Widome, Rachel
Neumark-Sztainer, Dianne
author_sort Larson, Nicole
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: A steep rise in food insecurity is among the most pressing US public health problems that has resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to (1) describe how food-insecure emerging adults are adapting their eating and child-feeding behaviors during COVID-19 and (2) identify barriers and opportunities to improve local food access and access to food assistance. DESIGN: The COVID-19 Eating and Activity Over Time study collected survey data from emerging adults during April to October 2020 and completed interviews with a diverse subset of food-insecure respondents. PARTICIPANTS/SETTING: A total of 720 emerging adults (mean age: 24.7 ± 2.0 years; 62% female; 90% living in Minnesota) completed an online survey, and a predominately female subsample (n = 33) completed an interview by telephone or videoconference. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Survey measures included the short-form of the US Household Food Security Survey Module and 2 items to assess food insufficiency. Interviews assessed eating and feeding behaviors along with barriers to healthy food access. ANALYSES PERFORMED: Descriptive statistics and a hybrid deductive and inductive content analysis. RESULTS: Nearly one-third of survey respondents had experienced food insecurity in the past year. Interviews with food-insecure participants identified 6 themes with regard to changes in eating and feeding behavior (eg, more processed food, sporadic eating), 5 themes regarding local food access barriers (eg, limited enforcement of COVID-19 safety practices, experiencing discrimination), and 4 themes regarding barriers to accessing food assistance (eg, lack of eligibility, difficulty in locating pantries). Identified recommendations include (1) expanding the distribution of information about food pantries and meal distribution sites, and (2) increasing fresh fruit and vegetable offerings at these sites. CONCLUSIONS: Interventions of specific relevance to COVID-19 (eg, stronger implementation of safety practices) and expanded food assistance services are needed to improve the accessibility of healthy food for emerging adults.
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spelling pubmed-83736662022-08-17 Barriers to Accessing Healthy Food and Food Assistance During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Racial Justice Uprisings: A Mixed-Methods Investigation of Emerging Adults’ Experiences Larson, Nicole Alexander, Tricia Slaughter-Acey, Jaime C. Berge, Jerica Widome, Rachel Neumark-Sztainer, Dianne J Acad Nutr Diet Research BACKGROUND: A steep rise in food insecurity is among the most pressing US public health problems that has resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to (1) describe how food-insecure emerging adults are adapting their eating and child-feeding behaviors during COVID-19 and (2) identify barriers and opportunities to improve local food access and access to food assistance. DESIGN: The COVID-19 Eating and Activity Over Time study collected survey data from emerging adults during April to October 2020 and completed interviews with a diverse subset of food-insecure respondents. PARTICIPANTS/SETTING: A total of 720 emerging adults (mean age: 24.7 ± 2.0 years; 62% female; 90% living in Minnesota) completed an online survey, and a predominately female subsample (n = 33) completed an interview by telephone or videoconference. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Survey measures included the short-form of the US Household Food Security Survey Module and 2 items to assess food insufficiency. Interviews assessed eating and feeding behaviors along with barriers to healthy food access. ANALYSES PERFORMED: Descriptive statistics and a hybrid deductive and inductive content analysis. RESULTS: Nearly one-third of survey respondents had experienced food insecurity in the past year. Interviews with food-insecure participants identified 6 themes with regard to changes in eating and feeding behavior (eg, more processed food, sporadic eating), 5 themes regarding local food access barriers (eg, limited enforcement of COVID-19 safety practices, experiencing discrimination), and 4 themes regarding barriers to accessing food assistance (eg, lack of eligibility, difficulty in locating pantries). Identified recommendations include (1) expanding the distribution of information about food pantries and meal distribution sites, and (2) increasing fresh fruit and vegetable offerings at these sites. CONCLUSIONS: Interventions of specific relevance to COVID-19 (eg, stronger implementation of safety practices) and expanded food assistance services are needed to improve the accessibility of healthy food for emerging adults. by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. 2021-09 2021-07-19 /pmc/articles/PMC8373666/ /pubmed/34294591 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2021.05.018 Text en © 2021 by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Since January 2020 Elsevier has created a COVID-19 resource centre with free information in English and Mandarin on the novel coronavirus COVID-19. The COVID-19 resource centre is hosted on Elsevier Connect, the company's public news and information website. Elsevier hereby grants permission to make all its COVID-19-related research that is available on the COVID-19 resource centre - including this research content - immediately available in PubMed Central and other publicly funded repositories, such as the WHO COVID database with rights for unrestricted research re-use and analyses in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for free by Elsevier for as long as the COVID-19 resource centre remains active.
spellingShingle Research
Larson, Nicole
Alexander, Tricia
Slaughter-Acey, Jaime C.
Berge, Jerica
Widome, Rachel
Neumark-Sztainer, Dianne
Barriers to Accessing Healthy Food and Food Assistance During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Racial Justice Uprisings: A Mixed-Methods Investigation of Emerging Adults’ Experiences
title Barriers to Accessing Healthy Food and Food Assistance During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Racial Justice Uprisings: A Mixed-Methods Investigation of Emerging Adults’ Experiences
title_full Barriers to Accessing Healthy Food and Food Assistance During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Racial Justice Uprisings: A Mixed-Methods Investigation of Emerging Adults’ Experiences
title_fullStr Barriers to Accessing Healthy Food and Food Assistance During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Racial Justice Uprisings: A Mixed-Methods Investigation of Emerging Adults’ Experiences
title_full_unstemmed Barriers to Accessing Healthy Food and Food Assistance During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Racial Justice Uprisings: A Mixed-Methods Investigation of Emerging Adults’ Experiences
title_short Barriers to Accessing Healthy Food and Food Assistance During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Racial Justice Uprisings: A Mixed-Methods Investigation of Emerging Adults’ Experiences
title_sort barriers to accessing healthy food and food assistance during the covid-19 pandemic and racial justice uprisings: a mixed-methods investigation of emerging adults’ experiences
topic Research
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8373666/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34294591
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2021.05.018
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