Objective: Evaluating food policy as a public health tool to promote fruit and vegetable consumption across food insecure Latino youth for cancer prevention. Background: Latino populations have high rates of obesity related cancers and disproportionate rates of early onset of these cancers. Maintaining a healthy weight and daily intake of 2.5 cups of fruits and vegetables are among the outlined youth guidelines for cancer prevention from the American Cancer Society (ACS). Food insecurity is a salient consideration for Latino cancer prevention as Latino households are more likely to be food insecure than non-Latino households. Households experiencing food insecurity have limited access to affordable fruits and vegetables. Additionally, food insecurity has been associated with the development of pediatric obesity among Latino youth. Achieving the ACS dietary recommendations for cancer prevention may be a challenge for food insecure Latino households. Methods: We analyzed baseline data collected during a pilot six week healthy lifestyle intervention with H/L youth ages eight to 14 (N=20) participating in a free summer meal program in rural Maricopa County, Arizona. Meal menus from the free summer meal program were reviewed and assessed for nutrition content. Food intake measures were taken from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey (YRBSS) 2017 data collection instrument. Participants provided answers via self-report. All participants self-identified as being Latino and the majority of the participants reported speaking Spanish at home (90%; n=18). Ninety-five percent (95%; n=19) of the participants reported receiving free lunch at school. Findings: One participant (5%; n=1) reported eating leafy greens at the frequency suggested by ACS guidelines. Two participants (10%; n=2) reported daily consumption of non-leafy green vegetables. Six participants (30%; n=6) reported daily consumption of fruit. The participant self-report food intake data suggests that the free summer program meals may have served as the sole daily meal for the youth. The free meals did not provide leafy greens or other vegetables. The free summer meal program menu followed the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) nutritional requirements for reimbursement. Conclusion: Increasing the fruit and vegetable requirements of free meal programs could improve daily intake to encourage food insecure youth to meet the ACS dietary guidelines. Changes in USDA free meal program guidelines would have a substantial impact on the consumption patterns of food insecure youth. Food policies should be considered as a structural intervention for cancer prevention as a means for addressing dietary habits among food insecure populations.

Citation Format: Celina I. Valencia, Daisy Esquivel. Considering food policy as a tool for cancer prevention among Latino youth navigating food insecurity [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Twelfth AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2019 Sep 20-23; San Francisco, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2020;29(6 Suppl_2):Abstract nr C093.

©2020 American Association for Cancer Research.
2020
American Association for Cancer Research.