Browsing by Subject "WIC"
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Item Assessing the Revised Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Food Packages by Surveying Native American WIC Participants and Administering a Metabolic, Dietary Study of the Revised and Original WIC Food Packages(2012-02-14) Condie, RachelWIC food packages are undergoing major revisions to accommodate the unique requirements of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) in the twenty-first century. This dissertation is an evaluation of the impact of the revised WIC food packages through national-level surveys obtaining data before and after food package changes. In addition, a community-level metabolic/dietary study of obese women consuming either the original or revised food packages was performed. Since WIC has never revamped its entire program before, this is an opportunity to learn more about the impact of the revisions on WIC participants across the country, including Native Americans from Indian Tribal Organizations (ITOs). The National Food and Nutrition food frequency questionnaire (NATFAN) evaluates food and consumption practices of WIC participants, including Native Americans, for both the original and revised WIC food packages. The baseline surveys (NATFAN') were administered before the 2009 rollout of the revised WIC food packages (dates varied by state program). The post-rollout surveys (NATFAN'') were administered spring through winter of 2010-2011, and at least six months after the implementation of the revised WIC food packages. Hierarchical linear modeling, with restricted maximum likelihood approximation, was used to evaluate 100% juice, fruit, and vegetable frequency of consumption based upon NATFAN' and NATFAN'', including samples from states, territories, and ITOs. This research is important because it was national in scope and analyzed nutritional behaviors of a Native American subpopulation of WIC that is seldom documented in national nutrition research. For the metabolic/diet study, obese women 185% of the poverty level were given the original or revised WIC food packages (n=3). Three venous blood serum collections (0, 6, 12 weeks) were biomarker tested (cholesterol, glucose, C-reactive protein, etc.) in lipid and metabolic panels. Three, seventy-two hour dietary recalls were also assessed to determine fruit and vegetable consumption changes over the course of the study. This phase was important because it focused on the individual's actual consumption behaviors of specific WIC foods dispensed in the WIC food packages and assessed how such consumption affected the health of the individual.Item Caregivers? Attitudes Toward Milk Fat Type and Milk Consumption Among WIC Participants: An Exploratory Study(2012-07-16) Serrano, Katrina JaneFactors such as parental/caregiver influences and socioeconomic status have been shown to impact food-related attitudes and behaviors. Consequently, these attitudes and behaviors affect health outcomes. The purpose of this study was to assess, using the Social Cognitive Theory (SCT), attitudes toward milk fat type and milk consumption among Texas WIC participants. Few studies, using this theoretical framework, have examined milk intake specifically among this population. Four hypotheses were proposed according to the theoretical model. The inclusionary criteria used for this study yielded a subset sample of 2,115; all cases included were Texas WIC participants. The results of this study show that caregivers' attitudes toward drinking and offering milk fat type are related. Caregivers' attitudes toward drinking milk fat type and the type of milk they drank were proven to be statistically significant. Similarly, caregivers' attitudes toward offering milk fat type and the milk fat type their children drank were proven to be significant. Caregivers' milk intakes were positively associated with children's milk intakes. It is evident that parental/caregiver modeling influences children's dietary habits. Parental/caregiver behaviors are important influences to consider when implementing nutrition education programs or intervention efforts, especially for participants of WIC. Improving caregivers' attitudes toward low-fat or fat-free milk intake can also contribute to healthier food-related choices.Item Essays on Applied Economics and Econometrics: Decadal Climate Variability Impacts on Cropping and Sugar-sweetened Beverage Demand of Low-income(2014-12-10) Jithitikulchai, TheepakornThis dissertation examines the economic impacts of ocean-related climate variability on U.S. crops and the effect sweetened beverage taxes would have on beverage consumption among low income food assistance program participants. The first essay estimates the effect of decadal climate variability (DCV) on crop yield, output, and revenue distribution moments controlling for temporal and spatial heterogeneity. The second essay estimates a demand system for beverages and the consumption effects of taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB). The DCV analysis endeavors to advance the literature by econometrically estimating the impacts of these climate phenomena on crops. The estimation is done developing an empirical model that combines the direct and indirect effects of DCV. The direct DCV effects are estimated with skew-normal regression, allowing effects on skewness. The indirect DCV effects on crops are passed through regional hydro-meteorological variables such as temperature, precipitation, drought, and rainfall intensity. This study provides evidence that DCV phase combinations are related to the regional changes in temperature, precipitation, and extreme events and that this alters crop yields, output, and revenue across the United States. In turn adaptations are examined and we find DCV information could help farmers profitably alter crop mixes. For the sugar-sweetened beverage investigation this study examines the demand elasticities of beverage purchases among low-income households participating in federal food assistance programs. Using scanner data from a New England supermarket chain with 3.8 million product-level purchases by over 47,000 households, we aggregate them by store level and month. We estimate a demand system model for eleven non-alcoholic beverages for different payment types. Our results suggest that an excise tax would be an effective means to reduce SSB consumption and increase healthier beverage purchases among low-income households.Item Food Deserts and Eating Habits of Children Participating in the WIC Program(2013-08-07) Jewell, Kassi KaeThe USDA?s ?My Plate? recommends that preschool-aged children consume specific amounts of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. These foods contain essential nutrients that children and adults alike require to maintain good health. Researchers have shown, however, that a significant number of children do not consume the recommended amounts of these foods, specifically vegetables and whole grains. Investigators have become increasingly interested in food deserts and whether living in these areas results in lower consumption of healthy foods. Food deserts by definition are areas where inhabitants have limited access to nutritious food. This study investigated the fruit, vegetable and whole grain consumption levels for preschool age children living in food desert or non-food desert areas. The NATFAN (National Food and Nutrition Questionnaire) survey of WIC participants was compared to the USDA?s food desert location data in order to learn the impact of living in a food desert. Using IBM SPSS to test the hypothesis, separate two-sample t-tests were conducted to determine if the mean difference between frequencies of fruit, vegetable, and whole grain consumption equaled zero. The data showed no difference in consumption of fruits and vegetables between food desert residing children and their non-food desert counterparts. There was, however, a difference in means for the consumption of whole grains. Specifically, food desert residing participants were consuming less brown rice. Using consumption amounts estimated from frequency data, it was discovered that, overall, WIC participants were under consuming fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.