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Food Availability, Food Security, and Maternal Mental Health

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Ecology of Food and Nutrition (EFN) promotes scholarly discussion and engagement on the holistic and cross-cultural dimensions of the study of food and nutrition. Articles published in this journal focus… Click to show full abstract

Ecology of Food and Nutrition (EFN) promotes scholarly discussion and engagement on the holistic and cross-cultural dimensions of the study of food and nutrition. Articles published in this journal focus on foods and food systems not only in terms of their utilization to satisfy human nutritional needs and health, but also how social and cultural factors relate to food, food cultures, and nutrition. Only a handful of journals publish articles that explicitly address the intersections of food and nutrition, biology and culture, and policy and practice from a holistic and global perspective. It is this kind of scholarship that EFN seeks to promote. This issue of EFN includes seven articles that focus on a range of topics including childhood obesity, perceptions of vegetarian foods, effective strategies to promote the availability of healthy food through local stores in resource-poor communities, food insecurity and maternal mental health, and food-based community organizations. The article by Besson et al. reports the results of two online studies examining the so called “halo effect” – the influence of a vegetarian label on calorie perception, food choices, and frequency of food consumption. Focusing on the differences in participants’ perception of the Grand Veggie and the Big Mac, the researchers examined the perceptions of research particants related to calorie content of food items. They conclude that plant-based foods are perceived as being less caloric than animal-based foods. However, this perception did not lead to an increase in intention to eat plant-based foods. The article by Kakkad and colleagues focuses on childhood obesity among Panamanian children living in the United States. The study examined the relationship amongst variables related to body measurements (anthropometrics), dietary patterns (food frequency questionnaire), and the build food environment (USDA-ERS-Food Store Survey Instrument) of 318 school-aged children. The results of the study suggest that nearly one-third of the children measured were overweight or obese and had limited availability of foods recommended for optimal health. Based on their study, the authors make several important recommendations, including building strong partnership between the local health center, schools, and universities and promoting early obesity prevention interventions to reduce childhood obesity. The article by BeLue et al. reports the results of a study focusing on corner store owners and shoppers in the U.S.Their goal is to understand perceptions, barriers, and enablers related to food procurement in corner stores in neighborhoods where over 50% of families are eligible for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. The authors conducted semi-structured interviews with store owners and shoppers. The authors report insightful results related to perceptions of corner store owners and shoppers in terms of shopping behaviors and preferences. The authors recommend that housing quality, sense of community, and acculturation on part of corner store owners should be addressed when providing food assistance in low or limited resource neighborhoods. The article by Steeves and colleagues examines a related topic. Their research is based on a well-conceptualized qualitative design to understand the perceived roles and business practices of small food retailers in Appalachian communities in the U.S. Based on their research in six Appalachian counties in Tennessee, the authors identify five ECOLOGY OF FOOD AND NUTRITION 2020, VOL. 59, NO. 1, 1–2 https://doi.org/10.1080/03670244.2019.1710337

Keywords: availability; health; food; ecology; food nutrition

Journal Title: Ecology of Food and Nutrition
Year Published: 2020

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