Association Between Food Insecurity and Diet Quality Among Early Care and Education Providers in the Pennsylvania Head Start Program

Dania Mofleh

doi:10.5888/pcd18.200602

Association Between Food Insecurity and Diet Quality Among Early Care and Education Providers in the Pennsylvania Head Start Program

ORIGINAL RESEARCH — Volume 18 — June 4, 2021

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Figure.
Radar plots of Healthy Eating Index (HEI) 2015 and Alternative Healthy Eating Index (AHEI) 2010 food components for both food secure and food insecure early childhood education providers. The radial axes represent median scores for food components graphed as percentages of each component’s total maximum score. The radar plots’ outer edges represent a maximum score of 100%, while the centers represent a minimum score of 0%. Plot A illustrates trends from HEI-2015. Total fruit represents all forms of fruit, including fruit juice; whole fruit represents all forms of fruit except fruit juice. Plot B illustrates trends from AHEI-2010. The median score for food secure was 53.1. For food insecure, the median score was 49.4. A higher score indicates a higher diet quality. Sugary beverages are any beverage with natural or added sugar.

Radar plots of Healthy Eating Index (HEI) 2015 and Alternative Healthy Eating Index (AHEI) 2010 food components for both food secure and food insecure early childhood education providers. The radial axes represent median scores for food components graphed as percentages of each component’s total maximum score. The radar plots’ outer edges represent a maximum score of 100%, while the centers represent a minimum score of 0%. Plot A illustrates trends from HEI-2015. Total fruit represents all forms of fruit, including fruit juice; whole fruit represents all forms of fruit except fruit juice. Plot B illustrates trends from AHEI-2010. The median score for food secure was 53.1. For food insecure, the median score was 49.4. A higher score indicates a higher diet quality. Sugary beverages are any beverage with natural or added sugar.
Plot Components	Overall, %	Food Secure, %	Food Insecure, %
A. HEI-2015
Median	61.4	62.2	59.9
Total vegetables	80.8	88.4	74.9
Greens and beans	81.5	84.5	76.8
Total fruit	65.3	65.8	58.7
Whole fruit	100.0	100.0	84.7
Whole grains	32.2	64.8	61.3
Dairy	69.9	68.2	81.9
Total protein foods	100.0	100.0	100.0
Seafood and plant protein	94.8	100.0	70.9
Fatty acids ratio	37.1	38.0	34.8
Sodium	31.3	29.8	34.4
Refined grains	93.0	95.0	88.0
Added sugars	80.9	86.1	73.2
Saturated fats	46.4	47.4	45.2
B. AHEI-2010
Median overall	47.8	53.1	49.4
Total vegetables	29	30.7	25.3
Total fruit	40.5	41.6	38.2
Whole grains	21.2	21.5	20.6
Nuts and legumes	53.7	54.7	51.5
Fish fatty acids	33.9	36.7	27.9
Polyunsaturated fat	68.8	69.9	66.5
Sodium	47.6	48.3	46.1
Sugary beverages	42.6	46.2	35
Red meat	52.6	54.2	48.9
Trans fat	87.8	88.5	86.5

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