Recruitment Strategies and Participation in a Study of Childhood Hunger

ABSTRACT

Food insecurity affects one fifth of U.S. households with children and tends to be associated with low income, minority race/ethnicity, and low educational attainment—difficult groups to recruit to population-based studies. We present successful recruitment strategies and participation data after enrolling 544 participants encompassing 3 food security categories from 4 types of food venues throughout South Carolina. Eligible persons were most likely to participate if they had lower food security, lived in an urban area, and were recruited over the phone. In multivariate logistic models, participation predictors were screening mode and recruitment site, with the highest yield at family-oriented emergency food assistance sites.

KEYWORDS:

• Food security
• child hunger
• food assistance
• cross-sectional

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Corrigendum

Funding

This project was supported with a grant from the University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research (UKCPR) through funding by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service, contract number AG-3198-B-10-0028. Michael P. Burke completed this work at the University of South Carolina, Arnold School of Public Health, Department of Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior. The opinions and conclusions expressed herein are solely those of the authors and should not be construed as representing the opinions or policies of the UKCPR or any agency of the federal government.

Additional information

Funding

This project was supported with a grant from the University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research (UKCPR) through funding by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service, contract number AG-3198-B-10-0028. Michael P. Burke completed this work at the University of South Carolina, Arnold School of Public Health, Department of Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior. The opinions and conclusions expressed herein are solely those of the authors and should not be construed as representing the opinions or policies of the UKCPR or any agency of the federal government.