Work conditions and the food choice coping strategies of employed parents.

OBJECTIVE How work conditions relate to parents' food choice coping strategies. DESIGN Pilot telephone survey. SETTING City in the northeastern United States (US). PARTICIPANTS Black, white, and Hispanic employed mothers (25) and fathers (25) randomly recruited from low-/moderate-income zip codes; 78% of those reached and eligible participated. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Sociodemographic characteristics; work conditions (hours, shift, job schedule, security, satisfaction, food access); food choice coping strategies (22 behavioral items for managing food in response to work and family demands (ie, food prepared at/away from home, missing meals, individualizing meals, speeding up, planning). ANALYSIS Two-tailed chi-square and Fisher exact tests (P < or = .05, unless noted). RESULTS Half or more of respondents often/sometimes used 12 of 22 food choice coping strategies. Long hours and nonstandard hours and schedules were positively associated among fathers with take-out meals, missed family meals, prepared entrees, and eating while working; and among mothers with restaurant meals, missed breakfast, and prepared entrees. Job security, satisfaction, and food access were also associated with gender-specific strategies. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS Structural work conditions among parents such as job hours, schedule, satisfaction, and food access are associated with food choice coping strategies with importance for dietary quality. Findings have implications for worksite interventions but need examination in a larger sample.

[1]  James R Hebert,et al.  Association between eating patterns and obesity in a free-living US adult population. , 2003, American journal of epidemiology.

[2]  Jason M. Fields.  Children's Living Arrangements and Characteristics: March 2002. Current Population Reports. , 2003 .

[3]  A. Warde,et al.  Convenience food: space and timing , 1999 .

[4]  Biing-Hwan Lin,et al.  America's Changing Appetite: Food Consumption and Spending to 2020 , 2002 .

[5]  G. Colditz,et al.  Family dinner and diet quality among older children and adolescents. , 2000, Archives of family medicine.

[6]  R. Fitzpatrick,et al.  Dimensions of social inequality in the health of women in England: occupational, material and behavioural pathways. , 2001, Social science & medicine.

[7]  R. Conger,et al.  Work, marriage, lifestyle, and changes in men's physical health , 1995, Journal of Behavioral Medicine.

[8]  S. Bianchi,et al.  Work, Family, Health, and Well-Being , 2006 .

[9]  R. Jeffery,et al.  Fast food restaurant use among women in the Pound of Prevention study: dietary, behavioral and demographic correlates , 2000, International Journal of Obesity.

[10]  R. Jeffery,et al.  The association of job strain and health behaviours in men and women. , 1997, International journal of epidemiology.

[11]  Sarah E. Winslow.  Work-Family Conflict, Gender, and Parenthood, 1977-1997 , 2005 .

[12]  S. Bianchi,et al.  Time Allocation in Families. , 2005 .

[13]  Gower Street,et al.  Health inequalities among British civil servants: the Whitehall II study , 1991, The Lancet.

[14]  L. Lytle,et al.  Associations between perceived family meal environment and parent intake of fruit, vegetables, and fat. , 2003, Journal of nutrition education and behavior.

[15]  Carol M. Woods.  Factor Analysis of Scales Composed of Binary Items: Illustration with the Maudsley Obsessional Compulsive Inventory , 2002 .

[16]  A. Stone,et al.  Self-report, situation-specific coping questionnaires: what are they measuring? , 1991, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[17]  M. Shields,et al.  Long working hours and health. , 1999, Health reports.

[18]  Elaine Wethington,et al.  "A lot of sacrifices:" work-family spillover and the food choice coping strategies of low-wage employed parents. , 2006, Social science & medicine.

[19]  B. Popkin,et al.  Trends in breakfast consumption of US adults between 1965 and 1991. , 1996, Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

[20]  B. Mccann,et al.  Changes in plasma lipids and dietary intake accompanying shifts in perceived workload and stress. , 1990, Psychosomatic medicine.

[21]  Ellen Galinsky,et al.  The Changing Workforce. Highlights of the National Study, No. 1. , 1993 .

[22]  K. Orth-Gomér,et al.  Determinants of obesity in relation to socioeconomic status among middle-aged Swedish women. , 1997, Preventive medicine.

[23]  Rosemary Crompton,et al.  It's about Time: Couples and Careers , 2004 .

[24]  D. Bowers.  Cooking Trends Echo Changing Roles of Women , 2000 .

[25]  E. McColl.  Cognitive Interviewing. A Tool for Improving Questionnaire Design , 2006, Quality of Life Research.

[26]  M. Lachman,et al.  Midlife in the United States (MIDUS 2): Cognitive Project, 2004-2006 , 2009 .

[27]  C. Perry,et al.  Family meal patterns: associations with sociodemographic characteristics and improved dietary intake among adolescents. , 2003, Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

[28]  C. Devine,et al.  Trying to find the quickest way: employed mothers' constructions of time for food. , 2007, Journal of nutrition education and behavior.

[29]  Jerry A. Jacobs,et al.  Overworked Individuals or Overworked Families? , 2001 .

[30]  C. Devine,et al.  Sandwiching it in: spillover of work onto food choices and family roles in low- and moderate-income urban households. , 2003, Social science & medicine.

[31]  Biing-Hwan Lin,et al.  Role of food prepared away from home in the American diet, 1977-78 versus 1994-96: changes and consequences. , 2002, Journal of nutrition education and behavior.