Table 1.
Sample Characteristics of Respondents by Food Security Status
| Variable | Food Insecure | Food Secure | p-value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sociodemographic Characteristics | |||
| Married (%) | 34 (13.5) | 35 (18.4) | 0.2 |
| Black (%) | 178 (70.6) | 115 (60.5) | 0.084 |
| Female (%) | 194 (77.0) | 139 (73.2) | 0.11 |
| Education level of high school or less (%) | 165 (65.5) | 110 (57.9) | 0.126 |
| Employment (%) | < 0.001 | ||
| A homemaker | 8 (3.2) | 1 (0.5) | |
| A student | 2 (0.8) | 2 (1.1) | |
| Employed for Wages | 88 (34.9) | 83 (43.7) | |
| Out of work for < 1 year | 28 (11.1) | 8 (4.2) | |
| Out of work for > 1 year | 15 (6.0) | 12 (6.3) | |
| Refused to work | 0 (0.0) | 3 (1.6) | |
| Retired | 20 (7.9) | 33 (17.4) | |
| Self-employed | 10 (4.0) | 8 (4.2) | |
| Unable to work | 81 (32.1) | 40 (21.1) | |
| Number of people living in household (mean (SD)) | 2.46 (1.51) | 2.19 (1.30) | 0.049 |
| Experienced significant changes in life in past year (%) | 113 (44.8) | 56 (29.5) | < 0.001 |
| Receives SNAP benefits (%) | 184 (73.0) | 104 (54.7) | < 0.001 |
| Income | < 0.001 | ||
| Less than $10,000 | 116 (46.0) | 51 (26.8) | |
| $10,000–$20,000 | 82 (32.5) | 54 (28.4) | |
| $20,001–$30,000 | 32 (12.7) | 35 (18.4) | |
| Over $30,000 | 21 (8.3) | 50 (26.3) | |
| Health Information | |||
| Have health insurance (%) | 234 (92.9) | 178 (93.7) | 0.839 |
| Chronic disease (%) | 138 (54.8) | 86 (45.3) | 0.06 |
| Food Shopping and Dietary Behaviors | |||
| Frequency of food shopping at primary store in days per month (mean (SD)) | 4.85 (5.62) | 3.82 (4.17) | 0.034 |
| Shops with own car (%) | 117 (46.4) | 117 (61.6) | 0.002 |
| 2010 Healthy Eating Index score (mean (SD)) | 48.73 (9.51) | 51.98 (10.82) | < 0.001 |
| Beliefs about Food Shopping and Diet | |||
| I have enough time to shop for fresh and healthy foods. (%) | 0.056 | ||
| Strongly Agree | 143 (56.7) | 127 (66.8) | |
| Tend to Agree | 81 (32.1) | 54 (28.4) | |
| Tend to Disagree | 19 (7.5) | 6 (3.2) | |
| Strongly Disagree | 9 (3.6) | 3 (1.6) | |
| It is convenient for me to purchase fresh and healthy food. (%) | < 0.001 | ||
| Strongly Agree | 124 (49.2) | 111 (58.4) | |
| Tend to Agree | 76 (30.2) | 65 (34.2) | |
| Tend to Disagree | 33 (13.1) | 13 (6.8) | |
| Strongly Disagree | 19 (7.5) | 1 (0.5) | |
| Eating a fresh and healthy diet is affordable (%) | 0.001 | ||
| Strongly Agree | 56 (22.2) | 50 (26.3) | |
| Tend to Agree | 86 (34.1) | 82 (43.2) | |
| Tend to Disagree | 67 (26.6) | 48 (25.3) | |
| Strongly Disagree | 110 (43.7) | 58 (30.5) | |
| It is easy to eat a fresh and healthy diet (%) | < 0.001 | ||
| Strongly Agree | 68 (27.0) | 75 (39.5) | |
| Tend to Agree | 89 (35.3) | 76 (40.0) | |
| Tend to Disagree | 62 (24.6) | 32 (16.8) | |
| Strongly Disagree | 33 (13.1) | 7 (3.7) | |
Notes: 1. Boldface p-values indicate statistical significance(p < 0.05)
2. Differences between continuous items were assessed using independent means t-tests and differences between categorical items were assessed using chi-square tests
3. Sample sizes for items differ due to missing data