Latent Class Analysis Offers Insight into the Complex Food Environments of Native American Communities: Findings from the Randomly Selected OPREVENT2 Trial Baseline Sample

Abstract

Native Americans (NAs) experience a high burden of obesity and diabetes, yet previous research has not holistically described the unique food environments of NA communities. The objective of this paper is to describe the subgroups and demographic characteristics related to NA household food environments. Surveys collected food getting, food assistance, and sociodemographic variables from randomly selected adults from three NA communities (n = 300) in the Midwest and Southwest. Exploratory latent class analysis (LCA) identified the appropriate number of subgroups based on indicator responses. After assigning participants to classes, demographic differences were examined using bivariate analyses. NA household food environments could be described using two subgroups (“lower” and “higher access household food environments”). The “lower access” group had significantly higher age, smaller household size, and fewer children per household than the “higher access” group, while body mass index (BMI) did not significantly vary. This is the first LCA of NA household food environments and highlights the need for approaches that characterize the complexity of these environments. Findings demonstrate that NA household food environments can be described by developing subgroups based on patterns of market and traditional food getting, and food assistance utilization. Understanding NA household food environments could identify tailored individual and community-level approaches to promoting healthy eating for NA Nations.

Using latent class analysis to operationalize a wholistic assessment of Inuit health and well-being

“…factor analysis), LCA is described as a person-centred approach, as its goal is to classify people (or cases) into groups that are represented by the categories of a nominal latent variable [ 41 ]. LCA has also been described as a wholistic approach to measuring the food environments of Native Americans [ 42 ]. This method has been used previously to generate health profiles among Inuit Elders using data from the 2006 Aboriginal Peoples Survey [ 28 ].…”

Food insecurity in the households of children with autism spectrum disorders and intellectual disabilities in the United States: Analysis of the National Survey of Children’s Health Data 2016–2018

“…The reported association between the individual health, relationships, and contextual factors impacting food insecurity are at best correlational. While the "sociotype" framework provided a useful way to examine food insecurity and its contributing factors, the process in which different sociotypes manifest is better understood with approaches such as the structural equations models and latent class analysis accompanied with longitudinal data collection (Jock et al, 2020;Mesoudi et al, 2017). In addition, multi-level modeling strategy can help identify how macro-level factors such as specific policies (e.g.…”

Food Insecurity in the Households of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders and Intellectual Disabilities in the U.S.: Analysis of the National Survey of Children’s Health Data 2016 - 2018

“…The reported association between the individual health, relationships, and contextual factors impacting food insecurity are at best correlational. While the 'sociotype' framework provided a useful way to examine food insecurity and its contributing factors, the process in 1 which different sociotypes manifest is better understood with approaches such as the structural equations models and latent class analysis accompanied with longitudinal data collection (Jock et al, 2020;Mesoudi et al, 2017). Additionally, multi-level modeling strategy can help identify how macro-level factors such as specific policies (e.g., Medicaid expansion, ASD-specific Medicaid waivers, etc.)…”