RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: Examine relationships of healthy and unhealthy dietary patterns with BMI, sex, age and acculturation among Mexican Americans. DESIGN: Cross-sectional. Participants completed culturally tailored Healthy and Unhealthy Eating Indices. Multivariable mixed-effect Poisson regression models compared food pattern index scores and dietary intake of specific foods by BMI, sex, age and acculturation defined by language preference and generational status. SETTING: Participants recruited from the Cameron County Hispanic Cohort study, Texas-Mexico border region, between 2008 and 2011. SUBJECTS: Mexican-American males and females aged 18-97 years (n 1250). RESULTS: Participants were primarily female (55·3 %), overweight or obese (85·7 %), preferred Spanish language (68·0 %) and first-generation status (60·3 %). Among first-generation participants, bilingual participants were less likely to have a healthy eating pattern than preferred Spanish-speaking participants (rate ratio (RR)=0·79, P=0·0218). This association was also found in males (RR=0·81, P=0·0098). Preferred English-speaking females were less likely to consume healthy foods than preferred Spanish-speaking females (RR=0·84, P=0·0293). Among second-generation participants, preferred English-speaking participants were more likely to report a higher unhealthy eating pattern than preferred Spanish-speaking participants (RR=1·23, P=0·0114). Higher unhealthy eating patterns were also found in females who preferred English v. females who preferred Spanish (RR=1·23, P=0·0107) or were bilingual (RR=1·26, P=0·0159). Younger, male participants were more likely to have a higher unhealthy eating pattern. BMI and diabetes status were not significantly associated with healthy or unhealthy eating patterns. CONCLUSIONS: Acculturation, age, sex and education are associated with healthy and unhealthy dietary patterns. Nutrition interventions for Mexican Americans should tailor approaches by these characteristics.
Assuntos
Aculturação , Índice de Massa Corporal , Dieta Saudável , Adolescente , Adulto , Fatores Etários , Idoso , Idoso de 80 Anos ou mais , Comportamento de Escolha , Estudos Transversais , Feminino , Humanos , Idioma , Masculino , Americanos Mexicanos , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Obesidade/etnologia , Sobrepeso/etnologia , Fatores Sexuais , Fatores Socioeconômicos , Texas/epidemiologia , Adulto JovemRESUMO
OBJECTIVE: To identify differences in food-shopping environments of Texas WIC vendors using a culturally adapted instrument. METHODS: A survey tool was developed for measuring food availability, accessibility, and affordability in 111 WIC vendors in Texas. Two-tailed t-tests and Mann-Whitney tests were used for rural/urban and Texas-Mexico border/non-border area comparisons. RESULTS: Prices were higher in rural areas than in urban areas for 2 key foods, fruits (p = .024) and milk (p = .007); non-border vendors had overall better food availability than border vendors; non-border vendors had better accessibility for fruits (p = .007) than border vendors. CONCLUSION: In Texas, disparities in food-shopping environments are evident and can be assessed using a culturally adapted survey tool.
Assuntos
Comércio/métodos , Assistência Alimentar , Disparidades em Assistência à Saúde , Meio Social , Comércio/economia , Custos e Análise de Custo , Feminino , Abastecimento de Alimentos , Humanos , Masculino , México , Projetos Piloto , Características de Residência , População Rural , Estatísticas não Paramétricas , Texas , População UrbanaRESUMO
This study aimed to obtain in-depth information from low-income, Spanish-speaking Latino families with young children to guide the development of culturally appropriate nutrition interventions. Focus groups were used to assess parent's knowledge about healthful eating, the home food environment, perceived influences on children's eating habits, food purchasing practices, and commonly used strategies to promote healthful eating among their children. Thirty-four Latino parents (33 women; 27 born in Mexico; 21 food-insecure) of preschool-aged children participated in four focus group discussions conducted in Spanish by a trained moderator. The focus groups were audiotaped, transcribed, translated, and coded by independent raters. Results suggest that in general, parents were very knowledgeable about healthful eating and cited both parents and school as significant factors influencing children's eating habits; at home, most families had more traditional Mexican foods available than American foods; cost and familiarity with foods were the most influential factors affecting food purchasing; many parents had rules regarding sugar intake; and parents cited role modeling, reinforcement, and creative food preparation as ways to encourage children's healthful eating habits. Finally, parents generated ideas on how to best assist Latino families through interventions. Parents indicated that future interventions should be community based and teach skills to purchase and prepare meals that include low-cost and traditional Mexican ingredients, using hands-on activities. In addition, interventions could encourage and reinforce healthy food-related practices that Latino families bring from their native countries.