89 - Children and Caregivers Benefit from a Clinic-Based Food Pantry in a Pediatric Weight Management Program

Poster Number: 89
Publication Number: 89.211

Lilianna Suarez, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, United States; Sarah Armstrong, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, United States; Janna B. Howard, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, United States; Rachel Fleming, Duke University School of Medicine, Denver, CO, United States; Rushina Cholera, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, United States

Background: Food insecurity (FI) is experienced by 14.8% of households with children and is associated with worse child health, including obesity. Screening and intervention upon FI identified in healthcare settings has increased, but little is known about which families desire food assistance and the impact of clinic-based food pantries.

Objective: To describe reasons families utilize a clinic-based food pantry and examine caregiver-reported benefits.

Design/Methods: We conducted a mixed-methods study of a clinic-based food pantry in a pediatric weight management program. Caregivers were screened for FI using the Hunger Vital Sign (HVS) during clinic visits. All families were offered food, irrespective of responses to the HVS. A convenience sample of caregivers utilizing and not utilizing the food pantry completed an additional survey examining factors related to food pantry utilization. Caregivers utilizing the food pantry completed a 30-day follow-up survey to examine possible benefits. Qualitative interviews were conducted with a randomly selected sample of participants with positive and negative FI screening outcomes. Quantitative data was analyzed using Chi-square tests for categorical variables, and T-tests or Mann Whitney U tests for means or medians of continuous variables, respectively. Rapid qualitative analysis was used to identify themes from qualitative data.

Results: The study population (Nf120) was 67.6% Non-Hispanic Black and 9.8% Hispanic (Table 1). Families utilizing the food pantry were more likely to have children with Medicaid (83.1%, p< 0.001), report more severe FI (38.9%, p< 0.001) and report poor/fair caregiver health (50.0%, p=0.034). Caregivers requested food due to having many expenses (32.2%), running out of food (20.3%), convenient food access (23.7%) and desiring healthier options (15.3%). Due to availability of the food pantry, caregivers who accepted food felt more comfortable discussing food needs in clinic (65.9%), were able to meet a child health goal (63.8%) and were more likely to attend their next clinic appointment (63.8%; Table 2). Qualitative analysis revealed that while caregivers were surprised to be screened for FI, they felt comfortable accepting food in the clinical setting (Table 3). Conclusion(s): Caregivers utilizing a clinic-based food pantry were more likely to have severe FI, were comfortable discussing food needs with their clinician and were able to meet child health goals. These results demonstrate clinic-based FI interventions are well accepted and may have important health benefits for children.
Suarez CV.pdf
Table 2: Caregiver-reported child and caregiver benefits one month after food pantry utilization*Presented as median (IQR). #Does not sum to 100%, as caregivers could select more than one response. FI: Food Insecurity.