Association Between Food Insecurity and Diet Quality Among Early Care and Education Providers in the Pennsylvania Head Start Program
ORIGINAL RESEARCH — Volume 18 — June 4, 2021
PEER REVIEWED
Figure.
Radar plots of Healthy Eating Index (HEI) 2015 and Alternative Healthy Eating Index (AHEI) 2010 food components for both food secure and food insecure early childhood education providers. The radial axes represent median scores for food components graphed as percentages of each component’s total maximum score. The radar plots’ outer edges represent a maximum score of 100%, while the centers represent a minimum score of 0%. Plot A illustrates trends from HEI-2015. Total fruit represents all forms of fruit, including fruit juice; whole fruit represents all forms of fruit except fruit juice. Plot B illustrates trends from AHEI-2010. The median score for food secure was 53.1. For food insecure, the median score was 49.4. A higher score indicates a higher diet quality. Sugary beverages are any beverage with natural or added sugar.
| Plot Components | Overall, % | Food Secure, % | Food Insecure, % |
|---|---|---|---|
| A. HEI-2015 | |||
| Median | 61.4 | 62.2 | 59.9 |
| Total vegetables | 80.8 | 88.4 | 74.9 |
| Greens and beans | 81.5 | 84.5 | 76.8 |
| Total fruit | 65.3 | 65.8 | 58.7 |
| Whole fruit | 100.0 | 100.0 | 84.7 |
| Whole grains | 32.2 | 64.8 | 61.3 |
| Dairy | 69.9 | 68.2 | 81.9 |
| Total protein foods | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 |
| Seafood and plant protein | 94.8 | 100.0 | 70.9 |
| Fatty acids ratio | 37.1 | 38.0 | 34.8 |
| Sodium | 31.3 | 29.8 | 34.4 |
| Refined grains | 93.0 | 95.0 | 88.0 |
| Added sugars | 80.9 | 86.1 | 73.2 |
| Saturated fats | 46.4 | 47.4 | 45.2 |
| B. AHEI-2010 | |||
| Median overall | 47.8 | 53.1 | 49.4 |
| Total vegetables | 29 | 30.7 | 25.3 |
| Total fruit | 40.5 | 41.6 | 38.2 |
| Whole grains | 21.2 | 21.5 | 20.6 |
| Nuts and legumes | 53.7 | 54.7 | 51.5 |
| Fish fatty acids | 33.9 | 36.7 | 27.9 |
| Polyunsaturated fat | 68.8 | 69.9 | 66.5 |
| Sodium | 47.6 | 48.3 | 46.1 |
| Sugary beverages | 42.6 | 46.2 | 35 |
| Red meat | 52.6 | 54.2 | 48.9 |
| Trans fat | 87.8 | 88.5 | 86.5 |
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