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Uniform TitleLow-income African-American and Hispanic caregivers' knowledge, behaviors, and perceptions relating to children's calcium intakes: survey results from clients of urban, neighborhood laundromats
NameBigwood, Alison H. (author), Palmer, Debrah M. (chair), Fitzgerald, Nurgul (co-chair), Hoffman, Daniel (co-chair), Rutgers University, Graduate School - New Brunswick,
Degree Date2008-10
Date Created2008
SubjectNutritional Sciences,
Children--Nutrition,
Calcium in human nutrition,
Children of minorities
DescriptionLimited-resource African-American and Hispanic children were found to have inadequate intakes of calcium. Since increasing their calcium intakes would decrease their risk for health conditions prevalent in these populations, i.e., lead poisoning, dental caries, high blood pressure, and osteoporosis, this study was performed. More specifically, this work sought to determine if urban, New Jersey laundromats were useful venues in which to educate caregivers about calcium and its importance for their children via the display of "Calcium: Select to Protect" social marketing campaign materials. Also examined were caregivers' perceptions of factors related to children's inadequate calcium intakes. This research sought to accomplish these goals via evaluation tools developed using constructs from the Social-Ecological Model, the Stage Theory of Organizational Change, and the Health Belief Model. Limited-resource African-American (n=134) and Hispanic (n=143) caregivers from ten laundromats were surveyed. Newark, NJ laundromats (n=6) served as intervention sites, and Jersey City, NJ laundromats (n=4) served as control locations. Post-intervention, only two of the 72 Newark laundromat clients surveyed reported exposure to the intervention materials, indicating the campaign's lack of success in this venue. This work's aims were revised, and the data collected, minus the two participants that reported exposure to the intervention, were used to examine caregivers' baseline characteristics that may influence their children's calcium intakes. Few caregivers reported previous exposure to calcium-related materials; however, those receiving WIC reported having had greater exposure to calcium-related materials compared to non-participants t(271) = 2.80, p [less than] .01. Caregivers exhibited limited knowledge of their children's calcium requirements, calcium sources, and calcium-related health conditions. Findings from variables drawn from the Health Belief Model showed that caregivers did not perceive their children to be susceptible to inadequate calcium intakes, had insufficient understanding of the benefits of adequate calcium intakes during childhood, and experienced multiple barriers to ensuring their children's adequate calcium consumption. These factors may have negatively affected children's calcium consumption, and could be addressed via the effective dissemination of "Calcium: Select to Protect" campaign messages. Further research is needed to improve calcium intakes among low-income African-American and Hispanic children who live in urban environments.
NoteM.S.
NoteIncludes bibliographical references (p. 192-199).
Genretheses
Persistent URLhttp://hdl.rutgers.edu/1782.2/rucore10001600001.ETD.17438
LanguageEnglish
CollectionGraduate School - New Brunswick Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Organization NameRutgers, The State University of New Jersey
RightsThe author owns the copyright to this work.