Maternal diet quality and nutrient intake in the gestational period: results from the delta healthy sprouts comparative impact trial

Food Environment in the Lower Mississippi Delta: Food Deserts, Food Swamps and Hot Spots

The objectives for this study were to examine the location and density of measured food outlets in five rural towns in the Lower Mississippi Delta, determine the spatial location of Delta Healthy Sprouts (DHS) participants' homes in the food environment, and examine relationships between the spatial location of participants' homes and their diet quality. Using a food desert/food swamp framework, food outlet geographic locations were analyzed in relation to one another, the distance between DHS participants' residence and closest food outlets by class were computed, and associations among residents' diet quality, hot spot status, and census tract classification were explored. Of 266 food outlets identified, 11 (4%), 86 (32%), 50 (19%), and 119 (45%) were classified as grocery stores (GS), convenience stores (CS), full-service restaurants (FS), or fast food restaurants (FF), respectively. A third of participants lived in CS hot spots, while 22% lived in FF hot spots. DHS participants lived closer in miles to CS (0.4) and FF (0.5) as compared to GS (1.6) and FS (1.1) outlets. Participants bought most groceries at national chain grocery stores rather than their closest grocery store. The food environments of the five towns and associated neighborhoods in which DHS participants resided were not supportive of healthful eating, containing both food deserts and food swamps, often in overlapping patterns.

Measurement of Nutrition Environments in Grocery Stores, Convenience Stores, and Restaurants in the Lower Mississippi Delta

Introduction

The Lower Mississippi Delta is characterized by several factors associated with poor diet quality. Our objective was to measure local nutrition environments of pregnant women and their infants who participated in a nutrition and physical activity intervention to assess environmental exposures potentially influencing their dietary habits.

Methods

We measured the nutrition environments of 5 towns in which participants resided by using the Nutrition Environment Measures Survey for grocery stores, convenience stores, full-service restaurants, and fast food restaurants. We used general linear models to test for differences in ratio scores, calculated by dividing each food outlet score by the maximum score possible, among food outlet classes and subclasses.

Results

Mean total ratio scores (expressed as percentages) for the Nutrition Environment Measures Survey among 4 classes of food outlets were significantly different from one another except for convenience stores and full-service restaurants. On average, grocery stores (n = 11) had 54% of maximum points possible, followed by full-service restaurants (21%; n = 50), convenience stores (16%; n = 86), and fast food restaurants (8%; n = 119). We found no significant differences in mean total ratio scores among convenience store subclasses. For fast food restaurant subclasses, stand-alone restaurants (n = 81) had 19% of maximum points possible, significantly higher than grocery store delicatessens (6%; n = 8), corner stores that sold fast food (3%; n = 5), and gas stations that sold fast food (4%; n = 25).

Conclusion

These 5 Lower Mississippi Delta towns scored low on nutrition environment measures associated with healthful eating. Behavioral interventions designed to bring about positive changes in dietary habits of rural residents are needed; however, effects may be minimal if environmental factors supportive of healthful eating are not available.

Enhanced vs Standard Parents as Teacher Curriculum on Factors Related to Infant Feeding among African American Women

OBJECTIVES

To determine the comparative impact of the standard Parents as Teachers (PAT) to the nutrition and physical activity enhanced version (PATE) of the perinatal educational curriculum on compliance with infant feeding recommendations and changes in maternal infant feeding knowledge and beliefs.

METHODS

Women at least 18 years of age, <19 weeks pregnant, and residing in three Mississippi counties were randomized to the standard PAT or the PATE version of the perinatal educational curriculum. Infant diets were assessed via 24-hour diet recall at postnatal months 1 to 12. Maternal knowledge and beliefs about infant feeding were assessed via survey at baseline and postnatal month 12. Compliance with infant feeding recommendations and differences in compliance between treatment arms were assessed using Kaplan-Meier survival curves. Longitudinal changes in maternal knowledge and beliefs were assessed with McNemar tests of symmetry.

RESULTS

Postnatal retention for the PAT and PATE arms were 83% (25/30) and 88% (21/24). Compliance with feeding recommendations for PAT and PATE participants, respectively, was 40% and 63% for no solid food before 6 months; 23% and 21% for no sugar-sweetened beverages before 12 months; 100% (both) for no fruit juice before 6 months; and 43% and 46% for no snack chips, French fries, and other fried food and candy before 12 months. Median times to feeding sugar-sweetened beverages were 10.1 and 9.6 months in PAT and PATE arms. Significant differences in compliance between arms were not found (P > 0.05). Participants' knowledge and beliefs about infant feeding were generally in agreement with expert recommendations at baseline, with few changes over time or between arms.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings suggest the need for further intervention focused on translating knowledge into action to improve diets of weaning infants in this region of the United States.

No Improvements in Postnatal Dietary Outcomes Were Observed in a Two-Arm, Randomized, Controlled, Comparative Impact Trial among Rural, Southern, African-American Women

BACKGROUND

Suboptimal diet quality, prevalent among postpartum women, is troubling for mothers and their children because positive relationships between maternal and child diet quality exist.

OBJECTIVE

The primary objective was to determine whether postnatal diet quality scores of participants in the two treatment arms differed or changed over time.

DESIGN

Delta Healthy Sprouts was a two-arm, randomized, controlled, comparative impact trial.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING

Pregnant women at least 18 years of age, less than 19 weeks pregnant, and residing in three Mississippi counties were recruited between March 2013 and December 2014. Postnatal data was collected from 54 participants between September 2013 and May 2016. The postnatal attrition rates were 17% and 13% for the control and experimental arms.

INTERVENTION

The control arm received the Parents as Teachers curriculum, and the experimental arm received a nutrition- and physical activity-enhanced Parents as Teachers curriculum.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Multiple-pass 24-hour dietary recalls were collected from participants at the postnatal month 1, 4, 6, 8, and 12 visits. Healthy Eating Index-2010 was used to calculate diet quality.

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS PERFORMED

Linear mixed models were used to test for treatment, time, and treatment by time (interaction) effects on postnatal dietary outcomes.

RESULTS

Control arm mean (95% confidence limits) total Healthy Eating Index-2010 scores were 36.8 (range=32.5 to 41.1), 36.5 (range=31.9 to 41.1), 40.2 (range=35.7 to 44.8), 39.3 (range=34.7 to 43.9), and 36.4 (range=31.8 to 41.0) at postnatal months 1, 4, 6, 8, and 12, respectively. Corresponding experimental arm scores were 42.3 (range=37.5 to 47.0), 41.6 (range=36.3 to 46.9), 40.2 (range=34.8 to 45.7), 45.8 (range=40.5 to 51.1), and 37.6 (range=32.6 to 42.7), respectively. Experimental scores were significantly higher than control scores across time. No other effects were significant.

CONCLUSIONS

Neither the standard Parents as Teachers curriculum nor the enhanced Parents as Teachers curriculum was effective at improving the poor diet quality of this cohort of rural, Southern, African-American women during the 12 months following the birth of their infant.

Better Diet Quality during Pregnancy Is Associated with a Reduced Likelihood of an Infant Born Small for Gestational Age: An Analysis of the Prospective New Hampshire Birth Cohort Study

Background

Birth weight has a U-shaped relation with chronic disease. Diet quality during pregnancy may impact fetal growth and infant birth weight, yet findings are inconclusive.

Objective

We examined the relation between maternal diet quality during pregnancy and infant birth size among women enrolled in a prospective birth cohort.

Methods

Women 18-45 y old with a singleton pregnancy were recruited at 24-28 wk of gestation from prenatal clinics in New Hampshire. Women completed a validated food frequency questionnaire at enrollment. Diet quality was computed as adherence to the Alternative Healthy Eating Index. Infant birth outcomes (sex, head circumference, weight, and length) were extracted from medical records. Weight-for-length z scores, low birth weight, macrosomia, and size for gestational age [small for gestational age (SGA) or large for gestational age (LGA)] were computed. Multivariable regression models fit each outcome on quartiles of diet quality, adjusted for covariates. Models were computed overall and stratified by smoking status.

Results

Analyses included 862 women and infants with complete data. Lower diet quality was associated with lower maternal education, being a smoker, prepregnancy obesity status, and lack of exercise during pregnancy. Overall, 3.4% of infants were born with a low birth weight, 12.1% with macrosomia, 4.6% were SGA, and 8.7% were LGA. In an adjusted model, increased diet quality appeared linearly associated with a reduced likelihood of SGA (P-trend = 0.03), although each quartile comparison did not reach statistical significance. Specifically, ORs for SGA were 0.89 (95% CI: 0.37, 2.15), 0.73 (95% CI: 0.28, 1.89), and 0.35 (95% CI: 0.11, 1.08) for each increasing quartile of diet quality compared to the lowest quartile. Similar trends for SGA were observed among non-smokers (n = 756; P-trend = 0.07). Also among non-smokers, increased diet quality was associated with lower infant birth weight (P-trend = 0.03) and a suggested reduction in macrosomia (P-trend = 0.07).

Conclusions

Increased diet quality during pregnancy was related to a reduced risk of SGA in this cohort of pregnant women from New Hampshire. Additional studies are needed to elucidate the relation between maternal diet quality and macrosomia.

Enhanced Curriculum Intervention Did Not Result in Increased Postnatal Physical Activity in Rural, Southern, Primarily African American Women

Purpose:

To test the impact of an enhanced home visiting curriculum on postnatal physical activity in rural, southern, primarily African American mothers.

Design:

Randomized controlled trial.

Setting:

Three rural counties in Mississippi.

Participants:

Between September 2013 and May 2016, 54 postpartum women randomized to standard home visiting curriculum (n = 30 control) or lifestyle enhanced home visiting curriculum (n = 24 experimental) were followed for 12 months.

Intervention:

The experimental arm of the intervention built upon the Parents as Teachers curriculum (control arm) by adding culturally tailored, maternal weight management and early childhood obesity prevention components.

Measures:

Physical activity behavior and related psychosocial constructs including attitudes, expectations, self-efficacy, social support, and barriers.

Analysis:

Generalized linear mixed models were applied to test for treatment and time effects on physical activity and related psychosocial constructs.

Results:

Postnatal retention rates were 83% and 88% for control and experimental arms, respectively. Mean weekly minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity were 28 and 50 minutes at postnatal months 1 and 12 in the control arm and 40 minutes for both time points in the experimental arm. Although a significant time effect was found, pairwise comparisons failed to reach statistical significance.

Conclusion:

The enhanced treatment was not effective at increasing postnatal physical activity nor improving related psychosocial construct measures in this cohort of rural, southern women.

Development and Evaluation of a Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension Dietary Index with Calorie-Based Standards in Equivalent Units: A Cross-Sectional Study with 24-Hour Dietary Recalls from Adult Participants in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2007-2010

BACKGROUND

Dietary indexes to assess accordance with the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) dietary pattern are useful tools in studies with health-related outcomes. However, scoring algorithms of the dietary index can affect the range of its applications.

OBJECTIVE

The purposes of this study were to develop a DASH dietary index with calorie-based standards in equivalent units and to evaluate the validity and reliability of the index.

METHODS

Calorie-based standards for nine components were determined based on recommended intakes in the DASH eating plan and dietary intakes estimated from two 24-hour dietary recalls of adult participants in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2007-2008, 2009-2010 (n=9,720). Evaluation tests included descriptive analyses of index scores among US adults stratified by sex and smoking status. Spearman's rank correlations were used to examine the relationships among components and total scores. The developed index was compared with two DASH dietary indexes that use different scoring algorithms to examine the association between total scores and blood pressure status through multivariable regression models.

RESULTS

The newly developed index consisted of seven food group and two nutrient components. The mean and median of total scores among US adults were 42.3 (95% CI 41.6 to 43.0) and 41.6 of 90 points, respectively. The mean total scores among adult women and non-current smokers were higher than their counterparts (P<0.001). The absolute correlation coefficients among the components and between each component and the sum of other components were ≤0.33 and ≤0.35, respectively. After adjusting for age and race/ethnicity, an association between total scores and blood pressure status was found in adult women (P<0.001), but not in adult men. The same pattern was found when the two indexes were used, but the strength of the association varied across the three indexes.

CONCLUSIONS

The developed index appeared to measure accordance with the DASH dietary pattern based on the dietary data from US adults. Further studies are warranted for various applications of the index.

Low rate of initiation and short duration of breastfeeding in a maternal and infant home visiting project targeting rural, Southern, African American women

Background

Despite the benefits of breastfeeding for both infant and mother, rates in the United States remain below Healthy People 2020 breastfeeding objectives. This paper describes breastfeeding outcomes of the Delta Healthy Sprouts participants during gestational and postnatal periods. Of specific interest was whether breastfeeding intent, knowledge, and beliefs changed from the early to late gestational period. Additionally, analyses were conducted to test for associations between breastfeeding initiation and breastfeeding intent, knowledge and beliefs as well as sociodemographic characteristics and other health measures.

Methods

Eighty-two pregnant women were enrolled in this project spanning three Mississippi counties. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two treatment groups. Because both groups received information about breastfeeding, breastfeeding outcomes were analyzed without regard to treatment assignment. Hence participants were classified into two groups, those that initiated breastfeeding and those that did not initiate breastfeeding. Generalized linear mixed models were used to test for significant group, time, and group by time effects on breastfeeding outcomes.

Results

Breastfeeding knowledge scores increased significantly from baseline to late gestational period for both groups. Across time, breastfeeding belief scores were higher for the group that initiated breastfeeding as compared to the group that did not breastfeed. Only 39% (21 of 54) of participants initiated breastfeeding. Further, only one participant breastfed her infant for at least six months. Breastfeeding intent and beliefs as well as pre-pregnancy weight class significantly predicted breastfeeding initiation.

Conclusions

Our findings indicate that increasing knowledge about and addressing barriers for breastfeeding were insufficient to empower rural, Southern, primarily African American women to initiate or continue breastfeeding their infants. Improving breastfeeding outcomes for all socioeconomic groups will require consistent, engaging, culturally relevant education that positively influences beliefs as well as social and environmental supports that make breastfeeding the more accepted, convenient, and economical choice for infant feeding.

Trial Registration

clinicaltrials.gov NCT01746394. Registered 5 December 2012.