Exploring Disparities in Dietary Quality Among Young Children Across Diverse Racial, Ethnic, and Immigrant Households

Although racial, ethnic minorities, and immigrants are more likely to have poor diet-related health outcomes, few studies have compared children's dietary quality across diverse households, which is the formative step to designing targeted interventions. The current study evaluates and compares the dietary quality of young children from diverse racial, ethnic, and immigrant households in Nebraska. Cross-sectional survey data were collected from adults living in Nebraska with at least one 2-6-year-old child residing in their household via an online survey regarding their federal assistance program participation and dietary quality of child(ren) residing in their household, measured using the short Healthy Eating Index (sHEI). With nearly two-third participating in a federal assistance program, the sample includes respondents from diverse households (n = 1,277) including first-generation immigrant (n = 61), non-immigrant Hispanic (n = 538), non-immigrant non-Hispanic White (n = 509), non-immigrant non-Hispanic Black or African American (n = 120), and non-Hispanic American Indian or Native Hawaiian (n = 49). Based on analysis of covariance controlling for demographic variables, children from immigrant households had lower mean sHEI score 43.9 as compared to non-immigrant Hispanic 46.4, non-immigrant non-Hispanic White 47.1, non-immigrant non-Hispanic Black or African American 50.2, and non-Hispanic American Indian or Native Hawaiian 48.9. Racial/ethnic/immigrant household group differences were also observed for some sHEI component scores. Children from immigrant and non-immigrant Hispanic households had significantly lower sHEI scores on some subcomponents compared with other groups. Findings emphasize the need for additional research and culturally responsive multilevel nutrition interventions.