Social Determinants of Health-Related Needs During COVID-19 Among Low-Income Households With Children.

Publisher: U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 101205018 Publication Model: Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1545-1151 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 15451151 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Prev Chronic Dis Subsets: MEDLINE

Original Publication: [Atlanta, Ga.] : U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, [2004]-

Food Supply*/methods ; Food Supply*/standards ; Needs Assessment* ; Poverty*/economics ; Poverty*/statistics & numerical data ; Social Determinants of Health*; Economics/*statistics & numerical data; Betacoronavirus ; COVID-19 ; Child ; Coronavirus Infections/economics ; Coronavirus Infections/epidemiology ; Coronavirus Infections/prevention & control ; Diet Surveys ; Employment/statistics & numerical data ; Family Characteristics ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Pandemics/economics ; Pandemics/prevention & control ; Pneumonia, Viral/economics ; Pneumonia, Viral/epidemiology ; Pneumonia, Viral/prevention & control ; SARS-CoV-2 ; School Health Services/statistics & numerical data ; United States/epidemiology

Introduction: Little is known about the social needs of low-income households with children during the coronavirus-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Our objective was to conduct a cross-sectional quantitative and qualitative descriptive analysis of a rapid-response survey among low-income households with children on social needs, COVID-19-related concerns, and diet-related behaviors.
Methods: We distributed an electronic survey in April 2020 to 16,435 families in 4 geographic areas, and 1,048 responded. The survey asked families enrolled in a coordinated school-based nutrition program about their social needs, COVID-19-related concerns, food insecurity, and diet-related behaviors during the pandemic. An open-ended question asked about their greatest concern. We calculated descriptive statistics stratified by location and race/ethnicity. We used thematic analysis and an inductive approach to examine the open-ended comments.
Results: More than 80% of survey respondents were familiar with COVID-19 and were concerned about infection. Overall, 76.3% reported concerns about financial stability, 42.5% about employment, 69.4% about food availability, 31.0% about housing stability, and 35.9% about health care access. Overall, 93.5% of respondents reported being food insecure, a 22-percentage-point increase since fall 2019. Also, 41.4% reported a decrease in fruit and vegetable intake because of COVID-19. Frequency of grocery shopping decreased and food pantry usage increased. Qualitative assessment identified 4 main themes: 1) fear of contracting COVID-19, 2) disruption of employment status, 3) financial hardship, and 4) exacerbated food insecurity.
Conclusion: Our study highlights the compounding effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on households with children across the spectrum of social needs.

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Date Created: 20201002 Date Completed: 20201014 Latest Revision: 20201218

20231215

PMC7553207

10.5888/pcd17.200322

33006541