Food insecurity status influences nutrient intakes among pregnant Latinas

Food insecurity status and nutrient intakes were assessed during pregnancy among low‐income Latina women living in Hartford, Connecticut (n=200). A modified version of the U.S. Household Food Security Scale was used to evaluate food insecurity status during pregnancy. A 24‐hour recall was used to assess dietary intake. Nutrient intakes were classified into tertiles. The Cronbach alpha coefficient for the 8 adult items of the modified scale was 0.81. Seventy‐one percent of the sample was of Puerto Rican descent. The prevalence of food insecurity was 42.6%, with 8.1% of households experiencing food insecurity with hunger. Those who were food insecure with hunger were significantly less likely to consume moderate or high levels of protein (p=0.001), vitamin B12 (p=0.001), zinc (p=0.001), retinol (p=.030), vitamin D (p=.035) and selenium (p=0.050) than those who were food secure, at risk of food insecurity, or food insecure without hunger. Those who were food insecure with hunger also consumed less % of calories from protein than their counterparts. There were no significant differences between groups for other nutrients. These preliminary results suggest that food insecurity may influence nutrient intake during pregnancy among Latinas. Funded through the UCONN Research Foundation, the USDA FSNE, the Latino Health Disparities NIH EXPORT Center (P20MD001765), and a USDA National Needs pre‐doctoral fellowship.