Relationship Between Grocery Shopping and Meal Preparation Self-Efficacy and Household Food Insecurity Among Food Pantry Clients

Authors

Kiana Jenkins, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, School of Public HealthFollow
Allison N. Marshall, Tulane University, Tulane University Translational Science Institute, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Department of EpidemiologyFollow
Bo Ra Kim, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Cizik School of Nursing, Department of ResearchFollow
Fred Brooks, Georgia State University, School of Social Work at The Andrew Young School of Policy StudiesFollow
Craig Gundersen, Baylor University, Department of EconomicsFollow
Daphne C. Hernandez, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Cizik School of Nursing, Department of ResearchFollow

Abstract

Prior research has focused on various social determinants of health as risk factors to food insecurity. Less work has focused on modifiable behaviors. This study examined the relationship between grocery shopping and meal preparation self-efficacy and food insecurity among food pantry clients. Surveys were used to collect the data from 10 food pantries in Atlanta, Georgia and 10 food pantries in Houston, Texas in 2022. Food insecurity status was ascertained by 3 affirmative responses on the 18-item USDA Food Security Scale Module. A total score of affirmative responses to 6-items each on a 1= not all confident to 4 = very confident scale was used to measure grocery shopping and meal preparation self-efficacy. Covariate-adjusted logistic regression models were conducted to examine the relationship between grocery shopping and meal preparation self-efficacy and food insecurity among the full sample. Standard errors in all regression models were corrected to account for multiple observations within a pantry. On average, participants (N=1,219) were 56 years old and had a grocery shopping and meal preparation self-efficacy total score of 20.73 (SD=3.35) out of 24.00. Over half of the sample experienced food insecurity (57%). For each unit increase in grocery shopping and meal preparation self-efficacy, food pantry clients experienced 7% lower odds of experiencing food insecurity (95% CI: 0.89-0.97). The findings hold when the models were stratified by sex. The results suggest interventions to improve grocery shopping and meal preparation self-efficacy may help reduce food insecurity.

Author ORCID Identifier

Kiana Jenkins

ORCID: 0000-0003-2437-478X

Allison N. Marshall

ORCID: 0000-0002-4266-1830

Bora Kim

ORCID: 0000-0001-6429-5109

Fred P. Brooks

ORCID: 0009-0005-1892-2518

Craig Gundersen

ORCID: 0000-0001-9264-6914

Daphne C. Hernandez

ORCID: 0000-0002-5232-749X

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License

Recommended Citation

Jenkins, Kiana; Marshall, Allison N.; Kim, Bo Ra; Brooks, Fred; Gundersen, Craig; and Hernandez, Daphne C. (2024) "Relationship Between Grocery Shopping and Meal Preparation Self-Efficacy and Household Food Insecurity Among Food Pantry Clients," Health Behavior Research: Vol. 7: No. 4. https://doi.org/10.4148/2572-1836.1249