(PTFS18-02-26) Behavioral and Psychosocial Factors Associated With Child and Parent Health Outcomes in a Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial of FRESH-EATS

Objectives: Families with school-age children in low-income communities often face limited healthy food access, contributing to poor dietary habits and obesity. FRESH-EATS is a community-based, multilevel-multicomponent nutrition intervention designed to improve food access and dietary behaviors among families in low-income neighborhoods. The aim of this study was to examine behavioral and psychosocial factors associated with health outcomes among children and parents using Year 1 baseline data.<

Methods: Baseline data from children aged 8-12 years and their parents (n=22) in two cohorts were analyzed. Questionnaires assessed dietary behaviors, food insecurity, family meals, parental meal planning, and psychosocial factors including self-efficacy. Health outcomes included height, weight, blood pressure (BP), waist, and hip circumferences. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated for participants and overweight/obesity status was determined. Correlations at p< 0.1 identified potential factors significantly associated with health outcomes that could be included in logistic regression models where binary health outcomes (i.e., weight status, high risk BP status, abdominal obesity) were included as dependent variables, controlling for food insecurity status.

Results: Parental meal planning practice and family meals were correlated with health outcomes and included in logistic regressions. Regression analyses showed that children in households with greater parental meal planning are 71.6% less likely to be overweight/obese (odds ratio [OR] = 0.284, p = .043), controlling for food insecurity status. Parents with greater meal planning or more family meals are 79.4% and 83.6% less likely to have high risk BP status (OR = 0.206, p = 0.020 & OR = 0.164, p = 0.024). Parents with greater meal planning and family meals were less likely to be overweight/obese (OR = 0.228, p=0.058 & OR = 0.326, p = 0.079). Other variables were not significantly associated with health outcomes.

Conclusions: These findings suggest parental meal planning and family meals may contribute to improving children and parents' health outcomes. Interventions emphasizing these factors may help families improve dietary behaviors and health outcomes. Further research is needed to confirm these associations.

Funding Sources: National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities