Skip to main content

Table 1 Sample Characteristics of Respondents by Food Security Status

From: Identification of factors related to food insecurity and the implications for social determinants of health screenings

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)

 
  1. Notes: 1. Boldface p-values indicate statistical significance(p < 0.05)
  2. 2. Differences between continuous items were assessed using independent means t-tests and differences between categorical items were assessed using chi-square tests
  3. 3. Sample sizes for items differ due to missing data