Food Shopping Practices Are Associated with Dietary Quality in Low-Income Households

Nutrition education for low-income audiences often focuses on building skills in food shopping and food resource management to help families receive the best nutrition from the resources they have available. However, empirical evidence for the effect of food shopping practice on dietary quality has been limited. This article presents new analyses from two studies that found an association between food shopping practices and diet quality. Logistic regression of data from 957 respondents from the 1996 National Food Stamp Program Survey found that food shopping practices were significantly (p ≤ .05) associated with the availability of nutrients in the food the households used during a week. Similarly, analysis of baseline data from 5159 women from selected counties of states who participated in the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program found that food shopping practices were significantly (p ≤ .05) associated with increased consumption of nutrients as measured through a single 24-hour recall. These findings suggest that food shopping practices are an important area for nutrition education with low-income audiences.