Christine Blake, PhD, RD 1, Carol M. Devine, PhD, RD 2,
Elaine Wethington, PhD 2, Tracy J. Farrell, 2 Carole A. Bisogni, PhD 2.
1 University
of South Carolina
Arnold School of Public Health
2
Cornell University
Division of Nutritional Sciences
Funded by: NIH- National Cancer Institute: RO1CA102684: PI: C Devine
The Context: Employed US Parents
 Most parents in the labor force (BLS, 2009)
 96% of two-parent households have at least one
employed member

59% are dual earner households
 68% of single mothers; 77% of single fathers
 Longer family work hours
 Dual-earner couples with children work 91 hrs/wk (Bond,
2002)
 Less time for household work (Bianchi, 2000)
 39% decline in meal preparation time 1965-1995
Associations to work and diet
 More food and meals away from home
 Lower in nutritional quality
 Less healthful diets have been associated with
 low job status
 poor job conditions
 high workloads
 high work demands
 low control at work
 Obesity and weight gain have been associated with
 long work hours
 high work demands
 high job strain.
Food choice coping strategies
 Behavioral mechanisms through which people actively
conceptualize and manage food selection in response
to work and family demands
 Used to
 manage stress and fatigue
 reduce meal time and effort
 reduce food and eating expectations
 weigh food and eating against other family needs
Devine, , Jastran, Jabs, Wethington, Farrell, and Bisogni. Soc Sci & Med, 2006.
Devine, C.M., Farrell, T., Blake, C.E., Jastran, M. Wethington, E., and Bisogni, C.A.
Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 2009; 41(5):365-370.
Blake, C. E., Devine C.M., Wethington E., Jastran M., Farrell T.J., Bisogni C.A. Appetite. 2009; 52(3):711-9.
Individual
Characteristics
Work Conditions
Family Conditions
Food Choice
Coping Strategies
Dietary
Intake
Research Questions
2. How are coping strategies
associated with individual, work
and family conditions?
Work Conditions
Individual
Characteristics
Gender
Food Choice
Coping Strategies
Dietary
Intake
Family Conditions
3. How are coping strategies
associated with Dietary intake?
1. What combinations of coping strategies
are used by working parents?
Research Design & Methods

Pilot telephone interview survey

Random sample (n=56) from low/moderate income
zip codes in a Northeast city


Day 1 interview


Work and family conditions, food choice coping
strategies
Days 2 and 3


89% of reached and eligible completed interview
24-hour recalls
IRB approved
Food Choice Coping Strategies
 Twenty-six items measured food choice coping strategies:
 1) food at/away from home,
 2) missing meals
 3) individualizing meals
 4) time saving
 5) planning.
 Developed, cognitively tested, and convergent validity established
through formative research (Devine et al., 2006; Devine et al., 2009).
 In a separate but similar sample all items met the criterion (p=<0.05) for
temporal reliability over 3 weeks (Spearman’s r = 0.41 - 0.87).
 All items dichotomized
Participants: Low-wage working parents
Fathers (n=25) Mothers (n=31)
%
%
32
36
40
36
28
28
32
32
Race/ethnicity
 White
 African-American
 Other
Latino ethnicity
Family Income
 Less than $20,000
 $20,000 to $39,999
 $40,000 to $59,999
Family receives food assistance*
Education
 Some HS or HS graduate
 Some college or graduate
Married /live as married*
12
44
44
32
36
44
20
64
40
24
60
76
100
40
*gender difference p=<.05
Participants: Low-wage working parents
Fathers %
n=25
Mothers %
n=31
 Long hours
 Usually ≥ 45 hours/week
 Overtime often
 Second job
32
32
24
40
24
8
28
48
36
32
40
32
 Non-standard hours/weeks
 Hours
 Schedule
 Varied schedule
Data Analysis
 Hierarchical cluster analysis used to identify subgroups of
participants based on use of food choice coping strategies
 Wards method and squared Euclidean distances
 3 broad clusters identified
 Contingency coefficeint used to test agreement with two other
clustering methods confirming stability of the classification
 Chi-square and fisher’s exact tests to compare clusters
 Frequency of using different FCC strategies
 Work conditions
 Family conditions
 ANOVA used to compare mean Healthy Eating Index
scores across clusters
Results
Work Conditions
Individual
Characteristics
Gender
Food Choice
Coping Strategies
Family Conditions
1. What combinations of coping strategies
are used by working parents?
Dietary
Intake
Food Choice Coping Strategies
Individualized Missing Home
Eating
Meals Cooking
(n=16)
(n=20) (n=20)
%
%
%
In a typical week: >5 of your family’s main meals are home cooked
≥1 of your family’s main meals are from a fast food restaurant
≥ 1 of your family’s main meals are take-out foods
≥ 0.5 of your family’s main meals are at a restaurant
After work you grab something quick to eat at a ff rest or conv. store
19
88
69
81
63
20
95
80
55
50
90
30
20
10
0
Because of your job you miss eating meals with your family
Between work and family you miss eating breakfast †
Because of your job, you miss eating lunch
You overeat later after missing a meal †
25
63
50
38
90
85
75
70
30
50
15
40
On workdays your family’s main meal is something quick to prepare
…includes canned or frozen entrees or boxed mixes
At work, you grab something quick to eat instead of a meal
88
63
81
80
85
80
85
30
50
On work days the children eat first, and adults eat later
…your family watches television during the main meal
… everyone in your family fixes something different for a main meal
50
69
81
65
45
15
25
35
10
You pack a lunch to take to work
You keep food available at work for snacks and meals
88
81
15
50
70
50
Results
2. How are coping strategies
associated with individual, work
and family conditions?
Work Conditions
Family Conditions
Individual
Characteristics
Gender
Food Choice
Coping Strategies
Dietary
Intake
Individual Characteristics and
Work, and Family Conditions
Gender (% female)
Race/Ethnicity (%) a
Non-Hispanic White
Non-Hispanic Black
Hispanic/Latino
Individualized
Eating (n=16)
Missing Meals
(n=20)
Home
Cooking (n=20)
69
60
40
44
25
31
15
45
40
35
25
35
50
30
20
40
25
60
15
70
20
45
35
45
32
25
43
35
30
35
75
5
20
31
1.4
55
2.0
15
2.7
6
38
38.3
35
45
36.9
20
20
36.8
Education (%)
High school/GED or less
1-3 years college
4 year degree or more
Family income < $30,000 (%)
Marital Status (%)*
Married - living with spouse
Unmarried - living with partner
Unmarried- living alone
Family Conditions
Spouse/partner works ≥20 hrs/wk (%)**
Children in household (mean #)**
Work Conditions (%)
Works non-standard hours *
Works overtime (≥ 45 hrs/wk)
Age (mean years)
Individual
Characteristics
Gender
Work Conditions
Food Choice
Coping Strategies
Dietary
Intake
Family Conditions
3. How are coping strategies
associated with Dietary intake?
HEI-2005 Category Scores c , d, e, f
Individualized
Eating
(n=16)
Missing
Meals
(n=15)
Home
Cooking
(n=19)
Total Fruit
1.91 (1.97)
1.70 (1.90)
2.35 (2.01)
Whole Fruit
1.76 (1.71)
.88 (1.75)
2.01 (2.19)
Total Vegetable
2.31 (1.56)
2.77 (1.56)
3.25 (1.32)
.95 (1.15)
1.90 (2.02)
2.77 (1.95)
Total Grains†
4.49 (0.74)
4.16 (1.01)
4.74 (0.49)
Whole Grains†
2.14 (2.25)
.86 (1.41)
2.30 (1.80)
Milk**
4.24 (2.33)
3.30 (2.14)
6.34 (2.75)
Meat and Bean
9.31 (1.28)
9.42 (1.67)
9.34 (1.76)
Saturated Fat
5.56 (3.20)
5.27 (3.56)
5.74 (3.59)
Sodium
2.75 (2.04)
3.00 (2.85)
2.95 (2.32)
10.39 (6.39)
9.56 (6.24)
12.35 (6.44)
7.73 (3.02)
8.84 (2.45)
6.54 (4.04)
53.50 (13.73) 51.67 (13.78)
60.64 (13.81)
Dark green and orange vegetables*
Solid fat, alcohol, added sugar
Oil
Total -2005 score (of 100)
Conclusions
 All employed parents are busy,
but some appear to be more
successful in managing food and eating than others.
 Food choice coping strategies used by these parents were
associated with key conditions
 work schedules
 marital status
 partner’s employment,
 number of children
…that acted in some cases as barriers to healthy dietary
intake.
Limitations
 Pilot study – small sample size
 Gender differences in marital status
 Our sample: 60% of mothers single
 Among U.S. children <18 years living with single parents

52% of households below poverty are headed by
single parents
Implications
 Research needs to consider parents’ work and family
contexts along with other socio-demographic and
psychosocial characteristics.
 Future research to examine the impact of family
policies such as flex time and workplace food access
on nutrition
 These relationships need to be studied further in a
larger population