(P02-016-25) Barriers to Farmers Market Vouchers Redemption Among Hartford WIC Participants: A Pilot Study to Strengthen WIC Benefits Use and to Develop a Childhood Obesity Intervention

Objectives: In December 2023, Hartford WIC program had 5,689 active clients. Low-income children, between the ages of 2 and 5 were overweight (15.2%) and obese (17,5%) (1). Unhealthy eating behaviors are major contributors. Families in predominantly minority and low-income neighborhoods have limited access to supermarkets and fresh produce. The WIC Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program has expanded access to fresh produce, by distributing vouchers, for redemption at farmers markets. Unfortunately, redemption rates are low. The objectives of this pilot study are to identify the barriers to using the vouchers and design an intervention.

Methods: Mixed methods design (n=105) and one-on-one in-depth interviews (n=15). Study participants: parents or caregivers of overweight or obese children between the ages of 2 and 5.

Measures: Socio-demographic characteristics; Children’s fruit and vegetable consumption via a short food frequency questionnaire (FFQ); Perceived barriers and aids to farmers’ markets shopping. Frequencies and bivariate analyses were ran using SPSS for the quantitative data and for the in-depth interviews we will conduct a content analysis, including several stages of analytic coding, with coded texts to create a componential analysis identifying patterns/variations, using QSR NVivo®.

Results: Participants mean age was 32 ± 7, majority females, 49.5% were employed, and 50.5% had high school or less. Parental intake was significantly associated with children’s fruit and vegetable consumption. 67.3% reported receiving vouchers in the last year and 55.3% reported redemption. The main reasons for not redeeming the vouchers were: unknown locations (41.9%), cost (27.8%), fruit and vegetables child eat is/are not available (22.0%), time (23.1%) and transportation (25.0%). Participants recommended the following strategies: educating clients about FMs; recipes; placing FMs near supermarkets; and advertising regularly via social media.

Conclusions: It is important to identify participants barriers to redemption at the local farmers markets. Our findings also highlight the importance of targeting the family environment for the promotion of healthy eating behaviors among children.

Funding Sources: This work is supported by the UCONN Health Department of Public Health Sciences and the ICR/Community Research Alliance.