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Description
Background: Latinos are the largest minority group in the U.S. Studies have found an inverse relationship between acculturation and many aspects of healthy eating. Furthermore, Latinos have the highest prevalence of being overweight in the U.S. The Latino population in the U.S. presents a major health concern. Public health professional need to identify the major cultural, psychological and environmental factors that propagate the worsening of Latinos diets when they embed themselves into the culture of the U.S. There have been many sociodemographic factors found to be associated with poor dietary intake. However, one area that there is a gap in literature is nutritional intake in regards to number of children in a household. It is important to explore if the factors associated with number of children in a household have an influence on the nutritional intake and psychosocial variables among Latino women in the U.S. Thus, public health professionals can help support families that demonstrate poor diet. Methods: One hundred and seventy nine adult Latino residents of North Carolina completed a questionnaire on their health behaviors, health status, and demographics at a tienda they regularly purchased food. Analyses of the secondary data used 68 Latino women from the original data set. These were households with mothers and their children. Nutritional intake and psychosocial variables of the Latino women were analyzed in regards to number of children in a household. Results: Multiple Linear Regression and Multivariate Logistic Regression analyses were conducted. After adjusting for potential confounding variables of marital status, SES, years in the U.S., and hours worked, results suggest a significant positive association between number of children in a Latino woman's household and her fruit and vegetable intake. Results for fat intake, soda intake, fast food consumption, level of social support for healthy eating she receives, barriers to fruit and vegetable consumption she faces, self-efficacy she has for fruit and vegetable consumption and behavioral strategies for fat she employs were not significantly related to number of children in her household in this present study. Discussion: The positive correlation between family size and fruit and vegetable consumption was a surprising result. A number of possible explanations are provided in the discussion. Follow-up research should examine if the significant association between fruit and vegetable consumption and number of children in a household for Latino women is supported by other studies that have a larger sample size. If this association is confirmed, research should examine why this association holds true.
