Department of Nutrition, Dietetics, and Food Science, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA.
Department of Statistics, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Dec 8;18(24):12937. doi: 10.3390/ijerph182412937.
Previous research has suggested many households are meeting the Federal Emergency Management Agency's 3-day emergency food and water storage recommendations. The impact of limited economic household resources on emergency preparedness practices related to food and water is uncertain. The purpose of this study was to compare emergency preparedness practices in households participating in United States' food assistance programs with households not participating in these programs.
A convenience sample of adults ( = 572) completed an online Qualtrics survey. Descriptive statistics, chi-square statistics, and independent -tests were used to measure differences between households participating in food assistance programs vs. non-participating households.
Most households participating in food assistance programs felt prepared to provide household members with food and water during an emergency, which did not significantly differ from non-participating households. Households using food assistance programs had less accessible cash but had similar foods on-hand for an emergency compared to non-participating households. However, they more frequently reported having baby formula/food and less frequently reported having vitamin/mineral supplements compared to non-participating households.
Food assistance programs may be effective in providing enough food and water to help low-income families be prepared for an emergency.
先前的研究表明，许多家庭都满足联邦紧急事务管理署（Federal Emergency Management Agency）关于储备 3 天应急食物和水的建议。但经济资源有限的家庭在与食物和水相关的应急准备实践方面的情况尚不确定。本研究旨在比较参与美国食品援助计划的家庭与不参与这些计划的家庭的应急准备实践。
采用便利抽样法选取 572 名成年人完成了在线的 Qualtrics 调查。使用描述性统计、卡方检验和独立检验来衡量参与食品援助计划的家庭与不参与家庭之间的差异。
大多数参与食品援助计划的家庭表示，他们在紧急情况下有能力为家庭成员提供食物和水，这与不参与家庭没有显著差异。使用食品援助计划的家庭虽然现金的可获得性较低，但与不参与家庭相比，他们在紧急情况下手头有类似的食物。然而，他们更频繁地报告有婴儿配方食品/食物，而不太频繁地报告有维生素/矿物质补充剂。
食品援助计划可能有助于为低收入家庭提供足够的食物和水，帮助他们为紧急情况做好准备。
