Department of Health, Society and Behavior, Program in Public Health, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697, USA.
Department of Public Health, School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts, University of California, Merced, CA 95343, USA.
Nutrients. 2022 Jul 5;14(13):2772. doi: 10.3390/nu14132772.
U.S. food insecurity rates rapidly increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, with disproportionate impacts on Latino immigrant households. We conducted a qualitative study to investigate how household food environments of rural Latino immigrants were affected during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thirty-one respondents (42% from low food security households) completed interviews (July 2020-April 2021) across four rural counties in California. A rural household food security conceptual framework was used to analyze the data. Early in the pandemic, food availability was impacted by school closures and the increased consumption of meals/snacks at home; food access was impacted by reduced incomes. Barriers to access included limited transportation, excess distance, and lack of convenience. Key resources for mitigating food insecurity were the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the Pandemic Electronic Benefits Transfer (P-EBT), school meals, charitable food programs, and social capital, although the adequacy and acceptability of charitable food distributions were noted issues. Respondents expressed concern about legal status, stigma, and the public charge rule when discussing barriers to government nutrition assistance programs. They reported that food pantries and P-EBT had fewer access barriers. Positive coping strategies included health-promoting food substitutions and the reduced consumption of meals outside the home. Results can inform the development of policy and systems interventions to decrease food insecurity and nutrition-related health disparities among rural Latino immigrants.
美国的食物不安全率在新冠疫情期间迅速上升，对拉丁裔移民家庭的影响尤为严重。我们进行了一项定性研究，以调查新冠疫情期间农村拉丁裔移民家庭的家庭食物环境是如何受到影响的。31 名受访者（42%来自低食物安全家庭）在加利福尼亚州的四个农村县完成了访谈（2020 年 7 月至 2021 年 4 月）。我们使用农村家庭食物安全概念框架来分析数据。在疫情早期，学校关闭和在家中增加用餐/零食的消费影响了食物的可获得性；收入减少影响了食物的可及性。获取食物的障碍包括交通不便、距离过长和缺乏便利性。缓解食物不安全的关键资源包括补充营养援助计划（SNAP）、大流行电子福利转移（P-EBT）、学校膳食、慈善食品计划和社会资本，尽管慈善食品分配的充足性和可接受性是存在的问题。受访者在讨论政府营养援助计划的障碍时，表示对法律地位、耻辱感和公共收费规则的担忧。他们报告说，食品储藏室和 P-EBT 的获取障碍较少。积极的应对策略包括促进健康的食物替代和减少外出就餐。研究结果可以为制定政策和系统干预措施提供信息，以减少农村拉丁裔移民的食物不安全和与营养相关的健康差距。
