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Food security, dietary choices, and television-viewing status of preschool-aged children living in single-parent or two-parent households.

Article Excerpt
Over the past decades, the number of U.S. single-parent households has increased--particularly those headed by females (U.S. Census Bureau, 2001). In general, single-parent households have a lower household income than do other households and, consequently, tend to spend less money on food. As a result, single-parent households may be food insecure (Casey, Szeto, Lensing, Bogle, & Weber, 2001; Nord & Bickel, 2002).

In addition to changes in household structure over these decades, the prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity also increased (Ogden, Flegal, Carroll, & Johnson, 2002)--notably among low-income groups (Certain & Kahn, 2002)--and are a concern for several reasons, including their detrimental effects on children's quality of life and the potential increase in future health care costs. According to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III (NHANES III), 7.2 percent of 2- to 5-year-old children were overweight between 1994 and 1998; according to Ogden and colleagues (2002), 10.4 percent were overweight. Also, sedentary lifestyle practices contribute to overweight among children (Crespo et al., 2001). Thus, we find that poor dietary intakes that do not comply with expert recommendations, combined with many hours of television viewing, are among the postulated reasons for the increase in the prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity in the United States (Robinson, 1999).

The objectives of this study were to compare food security and economic status of households headed by females only (single-parent) and households headed by both a male and female (two-parent) and to examine whether children ages 2 to 5 in these households had different patterns of dietary intakes and television- and videotape-viewing practices. The findings would show whether children living in female-headed households have dietary and other behavioral characteristics that may promote childhood obesity.

Methods

We used data from the USDA's 1994-96 Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals (1994-96 CSFII) and the 1998 Supplemental Children's Survey (1998 CSFII) (U.S. Department of Agriculture [USDA], 2000). Both surveys include nationally representative samples: the 1994-96 CSFII includes persons of all ages, and the 1998 CSFII includes children from birth to 9 years. In these two surveys, dietary intake data are collected on 2 nonconsecutive days, 3 to 10 days apart (Tippett & Cypel, 1998), via a interviewer-administered 24-hour recall that uses a multiple-pass technique to reduce underreporting. In the surveys, interviews for children under 6 years old are conducted with the adult household member (proxy) who is responsible for preparing the child's meals. Additionally, proxy interviews are conducted for respondents who cannot report for themselves because of physical or mental limitations. For our study, children were included if they were...

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