Department of Nutrition and Hospitality Management, University of Mississippi, University, 220 Lenoir Hall, Sorority Row, P.O. Box 1848, MS, 38677, USA.
Department of Sociology & Anthropology, University of Mississippi, University, 543 Lamar Hall, P.O. Box 1848, MS, 38677, USA.
Public Health. 2020 Sep;186:157-163. doi: 10.1016/j.puhe.2020.06.041. Epub 2020 Aug 21.
To describe and determine the barriers and facilitators to food-related health behaviors of residents in a rural Mississippi Delta community.
Descriptive study of qualitative interviews.
A non-random sample of 34 low-income, food-insecure adults residing in a rural Mississippi Delta community were interviewed using fuzzy cognitive mapping, a mixed methods approach.
Participants strongly emphasized the time restraints they faced in both procuring and preparing foods, due to substantial travel time required to procure groceries. Participants also identified key facilitators to healthy eating behaviors, including seasonal produce stands, foraging, fishing, home provisioning, and access to the local food pantry. These barriers and facilitators are highly interconnected with other influential factors including poverty, lack of health care, unemployment, and faith-based support systems.
While the connection between low food access and poor eating habits is well researched, this novel mixed-method approach details two important elements missing from the literature: (1) other factors often overlooked that mitigate or exacerbate this relationship and (2) the dynamic nature of the relationships between these factors, poor eating habits, and health. Additionally, this research examines these relationships in an underrepresented rural minority population where resources needed to mitigate poor health are often much more limited. Findings from this study are critical to health and food policy in Mississippi and more generally, rural communities.
描述并确定密西西比河三角洲农村社区居民与食物相关的健康行为的障碍和促进因素。
定性访谈的描述性研究。
对密西西比河三角洲农村社区的 34 名低收入、食物不安全的成年人进行了非随机抽样，采用模糊认知映射法进行访谈，这是一种混合方法。
参与者强烈强调了他们在采购和准备食物方面面临的时间限制，因为采购杂货需要大量的旅行时间。参与者还确定了健康饮食行为的关键促进因素，包括季节性农产品摊位、觅食、钓鱼、家庭供应以及获得当地食品储藏室的机会。这些障碍和促进因素与其他有影响力的因素高度相互关联，包括贫困、缺乏医疗保健、失业和基于信仰的支持系统。
虽然食物获取不足与不良饮食习惯之间的联系已经得到了充分的研究，但这种新颖的混合方法方法详细说明了文献中缺失的两个重要因素：（1）减轻或加剧这种关系的其他经常被忽视的因素；（2）这些因素、不良饮食习惯和健康之间的关系的动态性质。此外，这项研究还在资源匮乏的代表性不足的农村少数民族群体中研究了这些关系，这些资源对于减轻不良健康状况的需求往往更为有限。本研究的结果对密西西比州乃至更广泛的农村社区的健康和食品政策至关重要。
