Daily Dietary Intake Patterns Improve after Visiting a Food Pantry among Food-Insecure Rural Midwestern Adults

Authors

Breanne N. Wright, Purdue UniversityFollow
Regan L. Bailey, Purdue UniversityFollow
Bruce A. Craig, Purdue UniversityFollow
Richard D. Mattes, Purdue UniversityFollow
Lacey McCormack, South Dakota State UniversityFollow
Suzanne Stluka, South Dakota State UniversityFollow
Lisa Franzen-Castle, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Becky Henne, Michigan State UniversityFollow
Donna Mehrle, University of MissouriFollow
Dan Remley, Ohio State UniversityFollow
Heather A. Eicher-Miller, Purdue UniversityFollow

ORCID IDs

0000-0002-9936-0094

0000-0003-0181-6223

0000-0003-4357-9756

0000-0002-1261-4291

Date of this Version

2018

Citation

Nutrients 2018, 10, 583

Comments

© 2018 by the authors

Open access

doi:10.3390/nu10050583

Abstract

Emergency food pantries provide food at no cost to low-resource populations. The purpose of this study was to evaluate single-day dietary intake patterns before and after visiting a food pantry among food-secure and food-insecure pantry clients. This observational cohort study comprised a paired, before-and-after design with a pantry visit as the intervention. Participants (n = 455) completed a demographic and food security assessment, and two 24-h dietary recalls. Adult food security was measured using the U.S. Household Food Security Survey Module. Dietary intake patterns were assessed using Automated Self-Administered 24-h Recall data and classified by Healthy Eating Index (HEI-2010) scores, dietary variety, number of eating occasions, and energy intake. Paired t-tests and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests compared outcomes before and after a pantry visit. Mean dietary variety increased after the pantry visit among both food-secure (p = 0.02) and food-insecure (p < 0.0001) pantry clients. Mean energy intake (p = 0.0003), number of eating occasions (p = 0.004), and HEI-2010 component scores for total fruit (p < 0.001) and whole fruit (p < 0.0003) increased among food-insecure pantry clients only. A pantry visit may improve dietary intake patterns, especially among food-insecure pantry clients.