Efrati Philip Dana, Baransi Ghada, Shahar Danit R, Troen Aron M
The Nutrition and Brain Health Laboratory, The Institute of Biochemistry Food Science and Nutrition, The Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot, Israel.
Department of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, The S. Daniel Abraham International Center for Health and Nutrition, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beersheba, Israel.
Front Nutr. 2018 Dec 18;5:123. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2018.00123. eCollection 2018.
In many affluent countries, including Israel, networks of food banks and pantries have increasing responsibility to alleviate endemic poverty and food insecurity. While they may relieve acute hunger, their long-term influence on health and well-being is poorly understood. An exploratory cross-sectional telephone survey assessed both adequacy and quality of food aid provided via food pantries in the food bank network, in relation to recipients' dietary needs and health. The quality of food baskets and recipient diets were given a Healthy Portions Score (HPS) to measure compliance with Government guidelines for a "Basic Healthy Food Basket," and a Nutrient Density Score (NDS) to capture how well the food achieved the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for vital macro and micronutrients. A total of 105 pantry users were surveyed from 16 pantries around the country. The basket HPS correlated positively and highly significantly with dietary quality (individual NDS) after adjusting for gender, marital status and country of birth (standardized β = 0.22, = 0.03). Nearly half (46%) reported food insecurity with hunger. Two thirds were overweight or obese, and anemia, cardiovascular and metabolic disease were prevalent. The average food basket provides 30% of energy, 55% of protein, 50% of fiber, but only 33% or less of the household requirement for most minerals and vitamins. Only 60% of participants met their estimated energy requirements, and the intake of many essential micronutrients was well below the RDA. Fruits and vegetable portions contributed by correlated positively with the dietary quality (individual NDS) after adjustment for the same covariates (Standardized β = 0.20, = 0.04). A structured telephone survey proved a feasible method to study the impact of food-aid quality on the nutrition and health of food pantry users in an affluent country. Food baskets with fruits, vegetables and higher quality nutrition were correlated with healthier diets among the recipients. Data correlating food-aid quality and recipient diet and health is essential to effective policy making.
在包括以色列在内的许多富裕国家，食品银行和食品分发处网络在缓解地方性贫困和粮食不安全方面承担着越来越大的责任。虽然它们可能缓解急性饥饿，但对健康和福祉的长期影响却知之甚少。一项探索性横断面电话调查评估了食品银行网络中通过食品分发处提供的食品援助的充足性和质量，以及与受助者饮食需求和健康的关系。食品篮和受助者饮食的质量被赋予一个“健康份量评分”（HPS），以衡量是否符合政府关于“基本健康食品篮”的指导方针，并赋予一个“营养密度评分”（NDS），以了解食品在满足重要宏量和微量营养素推荐膳食摄入量（RDA）方面的情况。对来自全国16个食品分发处的105名受助者进行了调查。在调整了性别、婚姻状况和出生国家后，食品篮HPS与饮食质量（个体NDS）呈正相关且高度显著相关（标准化β = 0.22，P = 0.03）。近一半（46%）的人报告存在饥饿导致的粮食不安全问题。三分之二的人超重或肥胖，贫血、心血管和代谢疾病很普遍。平均食品篮提供了30%的能量、55%的蛋白质、50%的纤维，但大多数矿物质和维生素仅满足家庭需求的33%或更少。只有60%的参与者满足其估计的能量需求，许多必需微量营养素的摄入量远低于RDA。在调整相同协变量后，水果和蔬菜的份量与饮食质量（个体NDS）呈正相关（标准化β = 0.20，P = 0.04）。一项结构化电话调查证明是研究富裕国家食品援助质量对食品分发处受助者营养和健康影响的可行方法。含有水果、蔬菜和更高质量营养的食品篮与受助者更健康的饮食相关。将食品援助质量与受助者饮食及健康相关的数据对于有效的政策制定至关重要。
