ERIC Number: EJ861224
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2009
Pages: 5
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1499-4046
EISSN: N/A
Diarrheal Illness among Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Program Participants in Miami, Florida: Implications for Nutrition Education
Davila, Evelyn P.; Trepka, Mary Jo; Newman, Frederick L.; Huffman, Fatma G.; Dixon, Zisca
Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, v41 n6 p420-424 Nov-Dec 2009
Objective: To assess risk factors for diarrheal illness among clients of a Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) clinic in Miami, FL. Design: A cross-sectional survey with questions about demographics, food safety practices, and diarrheal illness. Setting: WIC clinic operated by the Miami-Dade County Health Department in Florida. WIC is a national program for nutritionally at-risk, low-income young children and pregnant or postpartum women. Participants: WIC female clients at least 18 years of age who are able to read and speak English (n = 299). Main Outcome Measure: Diarrheal illness, defined as having at least 3 loose stools for 2 or more consecutive days during the previous 30 days. Analysis: Univariate and multiple logistic regression analyses. Results: Food safety behaviors significantly associated with diarrheal illness included not washing hands before preparing meals (P = 0.048) and baby bottles (P = 0.045) or after changing diapers (P = 0.009) and not washing all items that touched raw meat before preparing the next food item (P = 0.023). In general, pregnant women reported less frequent hand washing and had a lower food safety score than nonpregnant women (P = 0.002). Conclusions and Implications: These findings suggest that interventions to improve food handling practices such as proper hand washing are needed for WIC clients, particularly pregnant women. (Contains 1 table.)
Descriptors: Females, Safety, National Programs, Food Standards, Pregnancy, Infants, At Risk Persons, Nutrition Instruction, Clinics, Diseases, Mothers, Low Income Groups, Young Children, Health Behavior, Hygiene, Disease Control, Communicable Diseases, Health Promotion, Intervention
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Florida
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A