Premium
Resource management behaviors and strategies among low‐income individuals
Author(s) -
Wasson Amy,
Anliker Jean,
Peterman Jerusha Nelson
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.27.1_supplement.lb347
Subject(s) - business , purchasing , resource (disambiguation) , affect (linguistics) , coping (psychology) , marketing , micronutrient , environmental health , psychology , medicine , computer network , communication , pathology , psychiatry , computer science
Food insecurity may lead to micronutrient inadequacies with constrained resources and increased caloric intake with available resources. Resource management skills can mitigate the effects of concurrently limited and inconsistent resources. Data on actual dietary behaviors and coping strategies are limited. We analyzed 6 focus group transcripts (21 participants) with low‐income, largely food insecure individuals in Massachusetts to describe dietary practices and assess related resource management strategies. We used directed content analysis to examine pre‐identified themes and identify new themes within cyclic resources affecting food choices. Some participants reported purchasing high‐calorie foods when resources were plentiful and when resources were constrained. Some purchased vegetables and fruits in times of higher resources. Others did not change purchases with cyclic resources, but reported strategies like using a budget and buying in bulk. Our work provides qualitative evidence that cyclic resources affect dietary practices. Additional resources could help individual's purchase the healthy foods that they want but cannot consistently afford. Nutrition education may mitigate disparities by providing tools to have consistent caloric and nutrient intake. Social safety net programs could target benefits to increase consistent consumption of healthy foods. USDA‐CSREES #H994.