Health System Innovation and Research Division, Population Health Sciences Department, School of Medicine, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah.
Health System Innovation and Research Division, Population Health Sciences Department, School of Medicine, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah.
Am J Prev Med. 2020 Jun;58(6):879-887. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2019.12.019. Epub 2020 Mar 9.
Limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods affects the health of individuals. Because of its association with chronic health conditions, addressing food insecurity may improve health outcomes and decrease health-related costs. This study explores whether and how information seeking as captured by calls made to United Way 2-1-1 can be used to identify food-insecure areas and information deserts-communities with low proportions of residents accessing government food resources but with high rates of 2-1-1 calls for emergency food resources.
Details regarding calls made to United Way of Salt Lake 2-1-1 for emergency food resources between 2014 and 2018 (n=63,221) were analyzed in 2019. Using GIS methods, areas with the highest number of calls for emergency food resources (hot spots) were identified; multinomial logistic regression was used to identify community-level sociodemographic predictors of food insecurity.
Areas with a smaller proportion of the population aged <18 years, more female householders, and more African Americans are associated with higher odds of being food-insecure.
Patterns of information seeking about emergency food resources suggest that, despite statewide access to federal means-tested food programs, significant food needs remain. This novel approach in food insecurity research can help public health officials and health systems address an important social determinant of health by identifying areas vulnerable to food insecurity. In addition, this work may be useful in benchmarking food needs, information seeking, and replicating analyses where similar data are available.
有限或无法获得营养充足且安全的食物会影响个人健康。由于食物不安全与慢性健康状况有关，因此解决食物不安全问题可能会改善健康结果并降低与健康相关的成本。本研究探讨了通过拨打联合之路 2-1-1 电话获取的信息搜索是否以及如何用于识别食物不安全地区和信息荒漠——这些社区居民获取政府食物资源的比例较低，但拨打 2-1-1 寻求紧急食物资源的比例较高。
2019 年分析了 2014 年至 2018 年期间拨打联合之路盐湖城 2-1-1 寻求紧急食物资源的电话（n=63221）的详细信息。使用地理信息系统方法确定了紧急食物资源需求最高的区域（热点）；使用多项逻辑回归确定了社区层面社会人口统计学预测因素与食物不安全之间的关系。
人口中年龄<18 岁的比例较小、女性户主比例较高、非裔美国人比例较高的地区与更高的食物不安全风险相关。
有关紧急食物资源的信息搜索模式表明，尽管全州都可以获得联邦以收入为基础的食品计划，但仍存在重大的食物需求。这种食物不安全研究中的新方法可以帮助公共卫生官员和卫生系统通过识别易受食物不安全影响的地区来解决健康的一个重要社会决定因素。此外，这项工作可能有助于基准食物需求、信息搜索，并在具有类似数据的情况下复制分析。
