An Examination of Demographic and Psychosocial Factors, Barriers to Healthy Eating, and Diet Quality Among African American Adults

Abstract

A healthy diet is associated with lower risk of chronic disease. African Americans generally have poor diet quality and experience a higher burden of many chronic diseases. We examined the associations of demographic and psychosocial factors and barriers to diet quality among African American adults. This cross-sectional study included 100 African American adults in a southeastern metropolitan area. Psychosocial factors (social support, self-efficacy), and barriers to healthy eating were assessed with validated measures. Diet quality was assessed using the Healthy Eating Index (HEI-2010). Nested linear regressions were used to examine the association between the variables of interest and HEI scores. Participants reported having social support (M (mean) = 2.0, SD (standard deviation) = 0.6, range 0–3), high levels of self-efficacy (M = 3.1, SD = 0.7, range 1–4), and low barriers (M = 1.4, SD = 0.6, range 0–4) to engage in healthy eating but total mean HEI scores needed improvement (M = 54.8, SD = 10.9, range 27.1–70.0). Participants consumed significantly higher empty calories and lower whole fruits, dairy, and total protein foods than the national average. Barriers to healthy eating (b = −12.13, p = 0.01) and the interaction between age and barriers (b = 0.25, p = 0.02) were most strongly associated with lower HEI scores. Younger African Americans with the highest barriers to healthy eating had the lowest HEI scores. Culturally appropriate interventions targeting empty calories, barriers to healthy eating, and knowledge of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans are needed for African Americans.

Household Cooking Frequency of Dinner Among Non-Hispanic Black Adults is Associated with Income and Employment, Perceived Diet Quality and Varied Objective Diet Quality, HEI (Healthy Eating Index): NHANES Analysis 2007–2010

“…HEI total score was not associated with cooking frequency after adjusting for covariates. This may be explained by barriers to healthy eating among Non-Hispanic Blacks, which have been found to potentially decrease total HEI scores [39]. We also did not see an association with cooking frequency and sodium intake or refined grain intake.…”

“…Two, the loss of a dichotomous relationship by income in our sample may actually represent choices not to cook that differ among SES groups within Non-Hispanic Black adults. For example, although higher income adults may have sufficient choices for food options outside of the home, increased participation in cooking may also be simultaneously influenced by the perception of foods that are culturally congruent or perception of time availability that may dissuade everyday home cooking [38,39]. Our finding suggests the likely importance of available time to cook in our sample in that not working was more likely to be independently associated with high cooking frequency.…”

“…Our findings suggest that possibly attention to factors such as income, food security and perceived diet quality, as well as the heterogeneity that may exist among Non-Hispanic Blacks, maybe important to consider. For instance, the promotion of higher cooking frequency among higher income Non-Hispanic Blacks may be related to promoting cooking as a viable option within their daily living schedules as opposed to focus on food access options [39]. Furthermore, regardless of cooking frequency, promoting the intake of vegetables at dinnertime requires attention to sociodemographic and socioeconomic factors which often parallel food access issues, which are the focus of ongoing public health and public policy research.…”

Analysis of chemotherapy effect on the second primary malignancy for head and neck cancer patients by a nomogram based on SEER database

“…As reported previously, black race was an independent risk factor to develop SPMs. Because black men have higher rates of socioeconomic barriers to receive timely, high quality medical care 27 . Interestingly, comparing with other races, the black HNC patients were less prone to suffer from SPMs when they received chemotherapy previously, which needed to be confirmed by further large‐scale clinical observation.…”

Sex and age differences in attitudes and intention to adopt personalised nutrition in a UK sample

“…People in the youngest age group (18–29 years) were also more likely than any of the older age groups to intend to adopt personalised nutrition in the future. The positive attitude of younger people is particularly promising, since previous research has indicated that younger people eat less healthy diets than those who are older (Kang et al 2019 ; Roberts et al 2018 ; Martinez-Lacoba et al 2018 ; Ashton et al 2017 ; van Dillen et al 2008 ) and encounter greater barriers in achieving a healthy diet (Adams et al 2019 ). A possible reason that younger people are more favourable toward personalised nutrition, therefore, could be that it is perceived to hold potential to overcome barriers to healthy eating.…”