Table 1.
Respondents’ Demographic Characteristics, Health Status, and Trade-Offs Presented by Food Pantry Use Categories
| SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC AND HEALTH CHARACTERISTICS | Food Pantry Use Classes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| ||||
| Low | Medium | High | Total | |
| N=86 | N=69 | N=90 | N=245 | |
| Age (Mean ± SD) | 41.1 ± 13.9 | 46.9 ± 13.3 | 51.5 ± 14.7 | 46.5 ± 14.7 |
| Race/Ethnicity | ||||
| Non-White | 41 (47.7%) | 27 (39.1%) | 36 (40.0%) | 104 (42.4%) |
| White | 45 (52.3%) | 42 (60.9%) | 54 (60.0%) | 141 (57.6%) |
| Sex | ||||
| Male | 27 (31.4%) | 18 (26.1%) | 26 (28.9%) | 71 (29.0%) |
| Female | 59 (68.6%) | 51 (73.9%) | 64 (71.1%) | 174 (71.0%) |
| Health Care Coverage * | ||||
| No | 23 (27.1%) | 19 (27.9%) | 28 (31.1%) | 70 (28.8%) |
| Yes | 62 (72.9%) | 49 (72.1%) | 62 (68.9%) | 173 (71.2%) |
| Education | ||||
| Never/Completed grades 1–8 | 6 (7.0%) | 6 (8.7%) | 19 (21.1%) | 31 (12.7%) |
| Completed grades 9–11 | 8 (9.3%) | 21 (30.4%) | 13 (14.4%) | 42 (17.1%) |
| Completed grade 12/GED | 43 (50.0%) | 27 (39.1%) | 36 (40.0%) | 106 (43.3%) |
| Completed one or more years of college | 29 (33.7%) | 15 (21.7%) | 22 (24.4%) | 66 (26.9%) |
| Employment Status | ||||
| Employed | 30 (34.9%) | 15 (21.7%) | 21 (23.3%) | 66 (26.9%) |
| Not employed | 34 (39.5%) | 31 (44.9%) | 32 (35.6%) | 97 (39.6%) |
| Retired | 3 (3.5%) | 7 (10.1%) | 10 (11.1%) | 20 (8.2%) |
| Unable to work | 19 (22.1%) | 16 (23.2%) | 27 (30.0%) | 62 (25.3%) |
| Housing Status | ||||
| Stable housing | 78 (90.7%) | 63 (91.3%) | 79 (88.0%) | 220 (89.9%) |
| Temporary or no housing | 8 (9.3%) | 6 (8.7%) | 11 (12.0%) | 25 (10.1%) |
| Food Security Status | ||||
| Food secure | 4 (4.7%) | 3 (4.3%) | 6 (6.5%) | 13 (5.3%) |
| Food insecure | 82 (95.3) | 66 (95.7%) | 84 (93.5%) | 232 (94.7%) |
| SNAP Benefits * | ||||
| Did not receive SNAP benefits in past year | 52 (61.9%) | 35 (50.7%) | 61 (67.8%) | 148 (60.9%) |
| Received SNAP benefits in past year | 32 (38.1%) | 34 (49.3%) | 29 (32.2%) | 95 (39.1%) |
| Number of Children in Household (Mean ± SD) | 1.7 ± 2.1 | 1.6 ± 1.8 | 1.5 ± 1.8 | 1.6 ± 1.9 |
|
HEALTH CONDITIONS Anyone in household (including respondent) has: |
||||
| High blood pressure | ||||
| No | 37 (43.0%) | 29 (42.0%) | 39 (43.3%) | 105 (42.9%) |
| Yes | 49 (57.0%) | 40 (58.0%) | 51 (56.7%) | 140 (57.1%) |
| Overweight/obesity | ||||
| No | 51 (59.3%) | 41 (59.4%) | 52 (57.8%) | 144 (58.8%) |
| Yes | 35 (40.7%) | 28 (40.6%) | 38 (42.2%) | 101 (41.2%) |
| Type 2 diabetes * | ||||
| No | 61 (70.9%) | 49 (71.0%) | 61 (68.5%) | 171 (70.1%) |
| Yes | 25 (29.1%) | 20 (29.0%) | 28 (31.5%) | 73 (29.9%) |
| Heart disease * | ||||
| No | 69 (81.2%) | 55 (79.7%) | 61 (69.3%) | 185 (76.4%) |
| Yes | 16 (18.8%) | 14 (20.3%) | 27 (30.7%) | 57 (23.6%) |
| Cancer * | ||||
| No | 70 (81.4%) | 58 (84.1%) | 76 (86.4%) | 204 (84.0%) |
| Yes | 16 (18.6%) | 11 (15.9%) | 12 (13.6%) | 39 (16.0%) |
| MEDICAL BILLS | ||||
| In past 12 months, did household have problems paying or were unable to pay medical bills? | ||||
| No | 47 (54.7%) | 37 (53.6%) | 34 (38.2%) | 118 (48.4%) |
| Yes | 39 (45.3%) | 32 (46.4%) | 55 (61.8%) | 126 (51.6%) |
|
TRADE-OFFS In the past 12 months, how often did respondents put off… |
||||
| Buying/taking medications to afford food? | ||||
| Never | 50 (58.1%) | 34 (49.3%) | 38 (42.2%) | 122 (49.8%) |
| Only 1 or 2 months | 16 (18.6%) | 7 (10.1%) | 10 (11.1%) | 33 (13.5%) |
| Some months but not every month | 10 (11.6%) | 14 (20.3%) | 23 (25.6%) | 47 (19.2%) |
| Almost every month/every month | 10 (11.6%) | 14 (20.3%) | 19 (21.1%) | 43 (17.6%) |
| Buying food to afford medications? | ||||
| Never | 62 (72.1%) | 45 (65.2%) | 49 (54.4%) | 156 (63.7%) |
| Only 1 or 2 months | 7 (8.1%) | 9 (13.0%) | 14 (15.6%) | 30 (12.2%) |
| Some months but not every month | 14 (16.3%) | 11 (15.9%) | 16 (17.8%) | 41 (16.7%) |
| Almost every month/every month | 3 (3.5%) | 4 (5.8%) | 11 (12.2%) | 18 (7.3%) |
SNAP, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
*
Respondents answering “I don’t know” were omitted from percentage calculations.
This contingency table shows cell frequencies and percentages for categorical variables. Missing data were not taken into account in percentage computation. Means and standard deviations (SD) are presented for continuous variables (age and number of children in household).