Nutritional Contributions of Food Pantries and Other Sources to the Diets of Rural, Midwestern Food Pantry Users in the U.S.

Nutritional Contributions of Food Pantries and Other Sources to the Diets of Rural, Midwestern Food Pantry Users in the U.S. Br J Nutr. 2020 Sep 02;:1-26 Authors: Liu Y, Desmond NE, Wright BN, Bailey RL, Dong T, Craig BA, Eicher-Miller HA Abstract Food pantries provide free food to individuals at nutritional risk given lack of available foods. Frequent use of food pantries is associated with higher dietary quality; however, neither the nutrient contributions of food pantries to participant diets, nor their relationship with household food security are known. This cross-sectional analysis used secondary data from rural food pantry participants, including sociodemographic characteristics, household food security, and 24-hour recalls. Mean intakes of selected food groups and nutrients from food pantries, supermarkets, other stores and restaurants, and other were compared by one-way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). Interaction effects of household food security with food sources were evaluated by two-way ANCOVA. About 40% of participants' dietary intake came from food pantries. Mean intakes of fibre (P<0.0001), sodium (P<0.0001), fruit (P<0.0001), grains (P<0.0001), and oils (P<0.0001) were higher from food pantries compared with all other sources, as were calcium (P=0.004), vitamin D (P<0.0001) and potassium (P<0.0001) from food pantries compared to two other sources. Percent total energy intake (%TEI) from added su...
Source: The British Journal of Nutrition - Category: Nutrition Authors: Tags: Br J Nutr Source Type: research