Latent Class Analysis Offers Insight into the Complex Food Environments of Native American Communities: Findings from the Randomly Selected OPREVENT2 Trial Baseline Sample

Brittany Wenniserí:iostha Jock, Karen Bandeen Roche, Stephanie V. Caldas, Leslie Redmond, Sheila Fleischhacker and Joel Gittelsohn
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Brittany Wenniserí:iostha Jock: School of Human Nutrition, Centre for Indigenous Peoples’ Nutrition and Environment (CINE), McGill University, Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, QC H9X 3V9, Canada
Karen Bandeen Roche: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
Stephanie V. Caldas: University of North Texas, Denton, TX 76203, USA
Leslie Redmond: University of Alaska Anchorage, Anchorage, AK 99508, USA
Sheila Fleischhacker: Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, DC 20001, USA
Joel Gittelsohn: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 4, 1-14

Abstract: Native Americans (NAs) experience a high burden of obesity and diabetes, yet previous research has not holistically described the unique food environments of NA communities. The objective of this paper is to describe the subgroups and demographic characteristics related to NA household food environments. Surveys collected food getting, food assistance, and sociodemographic variables from randomly selected adults from three NA communities ( n = 300) in the Midwest and Southwest. Exploratory latent class analysis (LCA) identified the appropriate number of subgroups based on indicator responses. After assigning participants to classes, demographic differences were examined using bivariate analyses. NA household food environments could be described using two subgroups (“lower” and “higher access household food environments”). The “lower access” group had significantly higher age, smaller household size, and fewer children per household than the “higher access” group, while body mass index (BMI) did not significantly vary. This is the first LCA of NA household food environments and highlights the need for approaches that characterize the complexity of these environments. Findings demonstrate that NA household food environments can be described by developing subgroups based on patterns of market and traditional food getting, and food assistance utilization. Understanding NA household food environments could identify tailored individual and community-level approaches to promoting healthy eating for NA Nations.

Keywords: food environment; Native Americans; obesity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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