Rummo Pasquale, Yi Stella, Seet Carla, Strahs Leah, Kong Justin, Jebejian Dickran, Elbel Brian
Department of Population Health, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, 180 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, USA.
SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University, College of Medicine, 450 Clarkson Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11203, USA.
Transl Behav Med. 2025 Jan 16;15(1). doi: 10.1093/tbm/ibaf031.
Online ordering in food pantries may support food security among adults with low socioeconomic status.
Determine the impact of a transition from in-person ordering to online ordering on the food security status of food pantry clients.
For this quasi-experimental study, we recruited participants from Met Council's Kosher Food Network in New York City, including one pantry in Staten Island (intervention) and three pantries in the Bronx, Queens, and Brooklyn (comparison). The final sample included 114 and 90 adults in the intervention and comparison groups, respectively, at baseline (April-July 2023); and 77 and 58 adults in those groups during follow-up (October-December 2023). Using a six-item survey, we assessed food security status, where scores range from zero to six points and higher points indicate lower food security. Secondary outcomes included nutrition security status, fruit and vegetable intake, and pantry wait time. We used a difference-in-differences approach to assess differences in outcomes between conditions, including testing for differences by age (18-64 vs. ≥65 years).
Food security scores decreased in the intervention and comparison groups over time, with no difference in the decrease between groups (P = .87). Yet, among younger adults in the intervention group, wait time decreased during follow-up, and increased in the comparison group (difference-in-differences = -12.1 minutes (95% CI: -21.9, -2.4); P = .02). We did not observe similar differences among older adults (P = .83), nor significant changes in other outcomes.
The transition to online ordering did not influence food security status among food pantry clients but may help to save time, especially among younger adults.
NCT05752721.
食品救济站的在线订购可能有助于改善社会经济地位较低成年人的食品安全状况。
确定从现场订购过渡到在线订购对食品救济站客户食品安全状况的影响。
在这项准实验研究中，我们从纽约市梅特委员会的犹太洁食网络招募参与者，包括斯塔滕岛的一个食品救济站（干预组）和布朗克斯、皇后区和布鲁克林的三个食品救济站（对照组）。最终样本包括干预组和对照组在基线时（2023年4月至7月）分别为114名和90名成年人；随访期间（2023年10月至12月），这两组分别为77名和58名成年人。我们使用六项调查评估食品安全状况，得分范围为0至6分，分数越高表明食品安全状况越差。次要结果包括营养安全状况、水果和蔬菜摄入量以及食品救济站等待时间。我们采用差异中的差异方法来评估不同条件下结果的差异，包括按年龄（18 - 64岁与≥65岁）进行差异检验。
随着时间的推移，干预组和对照组的食品安全得分均下降，两组之间的下降幅度没有差异（P = 0.87）。然而，干预组中的年轻成年人在随访期间等待时间减少，而对照组增加（差异中的差异 = -12.1分钟（95%置信区间：-21.9，-2.4）；P = 0.02）。我们在年长成年人中未观察到类似差异（P = 0.83），其他结果也无显著变化。
向在线订购的转变并未影响食品救济站客户的食品安全状况，但可能有助于节省时间，尤其是在年轻成年人中。
NCT05752721。
