Variety in Food Purchases: Associations with Diet Quality and Household Food Waste among Families with Young Children

Abstract

Food variety is recognized as an important aspect to healthy eating. This thesis investigated the cross-sectional associations between variety in food purchases, diet quality and household food waste among 85 families who reside in Guelph, Ontario. Variety in food purchases was assessed using receipt data in 5 food categories: fruits and vegetables, grain products, protein foods, dairy products, and snack foods. Diet quality was measured using the Healthy Eating Index-2015, and household food waste was quantified using waste audits. Variety in fruit and vegetable purchases had the greatest variability. Using linear regression and adjusting for covariates, we found that variety in snack food purchases was inversely associated with parent and child diet quality scores. No further significant associations were observed. Our study highlights the importance of evaluating variety in both healthy and unhealthy food categories, since this approach may reveal important predictors of diet quality.