Premium
Low‐income Women in Iowa Lack Awareness of the Health Benefits of Beans
Author(s) -
Winham Donna M.,
Palmer Shelly M.,
Baier Jenny L.,
Roe Taylor A
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.956.12
Subject(s) - environmental health , consumption (sociology) , glycemic , medicine , gerontology , demography , diabetes mellitus , social science , sociology , endocrinology
Beans are noted for their healthful nutrient profile, diversity in flavors, and role in sustainable agriculture. Pinto, black, white, kidney, and others, can lower LDL cholesterol, aid in glycemic control for type 2 diabetes, and reduce some cancers. Despite these benefits, few Americans meet the recommended intake of 1.5–2 cups of beans per week. Limited resource populations in the US have higher chronic disease rates – often related to poor dietary intakes. Empowering low‐income women with knowledge about the health benefits of beans could have far‐reaching results. They are often responsible for decisions made about the family diet, and influence children's food preferences. We collected baseline survey data on attitudes towards knowledge of the health benefits of beans from 178 low‐income women. This convenience sample came from agencies that provide health, nutrition, or community services to low income people in three central Iowa counties (Polk, Marshall, Story). Most questions were asked as Likert scales with options for: strongly disagree, disagree, do not know, agree, and strongly agree. The average age of respondents was 36.4 ± 12.5 years, and 55% self‐identified as Hispanic. Cholesterol reduction by bean consumption is one of the most widely known health benefits, yet 59% “did not know”, with 34% reporting “agree/strongly agree.” A similar lack of knowledge was observed with blood glucose control (62% do not know; 27% agree/strongly agree). Cancer risk reduction is a lesser known association with bean consumption. It was not surprising that 70% did not know of this potential benefit from eating dry beans. A few significant differences were observed by Hispanic ethnicity categories. More Hispanic women agreed that beans improved your nutrition ( p =0.025), and helped you feel full ( p =0.018) than their non‐Hispanic peers. Our findings support the need for increased education about the health benefits of bean consumption as part of a healthy lifestyle for limited‐resource women engaged in nutrition or health assistance programs. Promotion of beans for improving diet quality, cholesterol reduction, and normalization of blood glucose are important health education messages for all populations, but especially for those at high health risk. Increasing awareness of these health benefits might help retain beans in the diets of Hispanics as they experience acculturation, and increase intakes among all citizens as well for better health. Support or Funding Information Partial funding provided by: Iowa State University ‐ Human Sciences Extension and Outreach, College of Health Sciences, and Food Science and Human Nutrition – Science with Practice Seed Grant Program.