The Influence of Gender and Self-Efficacy on Healthy Eating in a Low-Income Urban Population Affected by Structural Changes to the Food Environment

Abstract EN

Although US obesity prevention efforts have begun to implement avariety of system and environmental change strategies to addressthe underlying socioecological barriers to healthy eating, factorswhich can impede or facilitate community acceptance of suchinterventions are often poorly understood.

This is due, in part,to the paucity of subpopulation health data that are available tohelp guide local planning and decision-making.

We contribute tothis gap in practice by examining area-specific health data for apopulation targeted by federally funded nutrition interventions inLos Angeles County.

Using data from a local health assessment thatcollected information on sociodemographics, self-reported healthbehaviors, and objectively measured height, weight, and bloodpressure for a subset of low-income adults (n= 720), we compared health risks and predictors of healthy eatingacross at-risk groups using multivariable modeling analyses.

Ourmain findings indicate being a woman and having high self-efficacyin reading Nutrition Facts labels were strong predictors ofhealthy eating (P<0.05).

These findingssuggest that intervening with women may help increase the reach ofthese nutrition interventions, and that improving self-efficacy inhealthy eating through public education and/or by other means canhelp prime at-risk groups to accept and take advantage of thesefood environment changes.