Nutrition Risks Are High for Low-Income People

The risk of nutrition-related health problems is high among people with low incomes, the federal government confirmed once again. The following is excerpted from a recently released report by USDA and Health and Human Services. These statistics are useful for background information when writing reports and proposals.

• Among low-income pregnant females, non-Hispanic blacks of all ages and adolescents across racial/ethnic groups had the highest prevalence of anemia in 1992.
• Among low-income women participating in government-supported service programs, the prevalence of low birth weight in 1992 was higher for those who smoked or who had low pre-pregnancy weight, less-than-ideal weight gain during pregnancy, or anemia during pregnancy than it was for other women in that sample. Low pre-pregnancy weight, less-than-ideal weight gain, and anemia are often related to maternal diet and nutrient intake. Effective prenatal care can beneficially affect the latter two nutrition-related factors.
• Mothers who were younger, black, or living below the poverty level were less likely to breastfeed their babies than were other mothers.
• In 1992, about 10 percent of a population of low-income children and adolescents participating in government-supported service programs had high weight for height, which is higher than the percentage expected for the overall U.S. population (five percent) but similar to the percentage found in children in the overall U.S. population (ten percent). The prevalence of shortness in this subpopulation (about nine percent) may reflect, in part, the racial/ethnic composition of low-income families who participated in these programs. The prevalence of thinness among low-income children was about three percent, which is less than expected for the overall U.S. Population (five percent) but similar to that found in the overall U.S. population (about three percent).
• Mexican-American children and adolescents six to 19 years of age had a relatively high prevalence of overweight and relatively low prevalence of thinness compared with the U.S. population of children and adolescents as a whole.
• The mean BMI of American Indian school children in 1990 to 1991 was higher than that of children in the overall U.S. Population in 1988 to 1991, suggesting that the prevalence of overweight is likely to be higher in American Indian children than in other American children.
• In 1988 to 1991, the prevalence of overweight was highest in females with incomes below 131 percent of poverty in all racial/ethnic groups, ranging from 45 percent for non-Hispanic whites to 50 percent for Mexican Americans and 51 percent for non-Hispanic blacks. For non-Hispanic blacks, the prevalence of overweight was much higher in females than in males (28 percent). For non-Hispanic black and Mexican American males, the prevalence of overweight was lowest in the low-income group.
• Non-Hispanic white males with incomes below poverty in 1988 to 1991 had a higher age-adjusted prevalence of high serum total cholesterol levels than males in other racial/ethnic or income groups.
• In 1988 to 1991, non-Hispanic black males and females had higher age-adjusted prevalence of hypertension than did non-Hispanic whites or Mexican Americans. Non-Hispanic white and non-Hispanic black females with incomes below the poverty level had higher age-adjusted prevalence of hypertension than did females with higher incomes in these two groups.
• Hypertension remains a substantial problem in middle-aged and elderly people. In 1988 to 1991, about 75 percent of females 80 years of age and older had high blood pressure compared with 60 percent of males in that group.
• The prevalence of femoral osteoporosis in females 50 years of age and older was 21 percent for non-Hispanic whites, 10 percent for non-Hispanic blacks and 16 percent for Mexican Americans in 1988 to 1991. Although the prevalence of osteoporosis was only six percent among non-Hispanic white females 50 to 59 years of age, it rose in each succeeding decade of age, reaching 52 percent among the group 80 years of age and older.
• Female main meal planners and preparers who were black or from low-income households were less likely to be aware of diet-health relationships than were females who were white or from higher income households. Higher percentages of adults with low incomes and of black adults reported eating certain foods containing higher levels of total fat (e.g. whole milk) and cholesterol (e.g. whole milk and eggs) than of adults with higher incomes and of white adults. Lower percentages of adults with low incomes and of black adults reported using fats and oils.
• Percentages of low-income adults and of black adults who had total fat intakes within the recommended range (less than or equal to 30 percent of calories) were somewhat lower than percentages of higher income and of white adults.
• Median calcium intakes from food were below recommended values for non-Hispanic black children one to 11 years of age, all adolescents except non-Hispanic white males 12 to 15 years of age, females 20 and older, non-Hispanic black males 20 to 59 years of age, and males 60 years of age and older.
• Children one to two years of age, female adolescents, and female adults 20 to 59 years of age had median iron intakes from food that were below recommended values.
• Non-Hispanic black females 16 years of age and older and Mexican-American females 60 years of age and older had median folate intakes from food that were below recommended values.
• Pregnant females had lower-than-recommended mean intakes for food of folate, calcium, vitamin B6, iron, zinc, and magnesium. Pregnant non-Hispanic black females had a mean calcium intake that was lower than that of non-Hispanic white and Mexican-American pregnant females.
• Low-income adolescents and adults (but not children) in 1989 to 1991 had lower mean intakes of vitamins and minerals that were considered current or potential public health concerns in the second monitoring report (vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin B6, folate, calcium, iron, and zinc) than did adolescents and adults from higher income groups. However, mean intakes of the low income groups were not more likely to be below Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) values than mean intakes of higher income groups.
• People in low-income households or families were more likely to report that they experienced food insufficiency than people in households or families with higher incomes. About nine to 13 percent of people in low-income households experienced some degree of food insufficiency, compared with about four percent in the overall U.S. population. Mexican Americans and non-Hispanic blacks were more likely than non-Hispanic whites to report that they sometimes or often did not have enough food to .eat.

Source: CNI, March 15, 1996, File-Nutritional Status of Diverse Groups.

Meredith Pearson, Ph.D.
Extension Specialist, EFNEP

5/96 File:SUBJECT MATTER/TEACHING MATERIALS/Nutritional Status of Diverse Groups

K-State Research and Extension is a short name for the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service, a program designed to generate and distribute useful knowledge for the well-being of Kansans. Supported by county, state, federal and private funds, the program has county Extension offices, experiment fields, area Extension offices and regional research centers statewide. Its headquarters is on the K-State campus, Manhattan.