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Nutrition Resilience in the Seattle Obesity Study: How to Eat Better for Less
Author(s) -
Aggarwal Anju,
Delaney Joseph A.C.,
Drewnowski Adam
Publication year - 2017
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.31.1_supplement.45.8
Subject(s) - socioeconomic status , psychosocial , gerontology , medicine , body mass index , demography , obesity , environmental health , population , psychiatry , sociology
Socioeconomic factors may pose a barrier to adopting higher quality diets, lower body weights and better health. However, some population sub‐groups appear to consume higher quality diets despite multiple socioeconomic constraints. In prior research based on NHANES data, we identified this phenomenon as “nutrition resilience”. The Seattle Obesity Study (SOS) is an ongoing exploration of socioeconomic, psychosocial, and environmental determinants of diet quality, body weights and health. The SOS is based on a stratified sample of adult male and female residents of Seattle‐King County. In the present analyses, based on 1,700 participants, nutrition resilience (NR) was defined as the intersection of higher quality diets and lower diet costs. Data on socioeconomic, psychosocial, behavioral and environmental variables, and body weights were collected using telephone and in‐person surveys. Diet quality was measured using Healthy Eating Index (HEI‐2010) scores obtained using the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (FHCRC) Food Frequency Questionnaires (FFQ). Daily diet cost estimate for each participant was also obtained using the FHCRC FFQ. Median splits of diet quality (HEI‐2010) and estimated diet cost were used to categorize participants into four quadrants. The NR participants i.e. high quality low cost quadrant accounted for 20% of the sample. The NR diets were comparable in quality to “high quality high cost” quadrant (HEI score = 78 for both) but at significantly lower diet cost ($7.7/1800kcal/d vs. $10.8/1800kcal/d respectively). A series of regression analyses examined the potential contributions of age, gender, race/ethnicity, incomes and education, food‐related attitudes and behaviors to nutrition resilience. The NR group did not differ by demographics or income. However, the NR group was more likely to be college educated, prioritized the importance of eating healthy, had fewer meals away from home, and was more likely to cook dinner meals at home (p‐value <0.05 for each). The NR diets were characterized by HEI scores reflecting more whole grains, more dairy, more total proteins foods, more seafood and plant proteins, but less saturated fats, less sodium and significantly less empty calories as compared to the other three groups. Adjusted analyses showed that the NR group had the lowest BMI of all the four quadrants. In particular, the NR group had significantly lower BMI than the “low cost low quality” group (β=−2.1, 95% CI: −3.2, −1.1). Exploring the mechanisms underlying the NR phenomenon may offer unique insights into targeted dietary interventions aimed at minorities and other vulnerable populations. Support or Funding Information The study was supported by NIH grant NIDDK R01DK076608.