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Leveraging Social, Environmental, and Policy Priorities to Address Food Security and Diet Quality Outcomes (Oral Session 13)

(OR13-02-25) Assessing the Moderating Effects of Unmet Social Needs on the Relationship between Cooking Frequency and Self-Rated Diet Quality

Monday, June 2, 2025
10:12 AM – 10:24 AM ET
Location: S220 E-G
Emerging Leaders in Nutrition Science Poster Competition

    Presenting Author(s)

  • Danielle J. Gartner, MPH

    Doctoral Student
    Tulane University School of Public Health
    NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana, United States

    Disclosure(s): No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.

    • Co-Author(s)

  • CS

    Chelsea R. Singleton

    Tulane University School of Public Health, Louisiana, United States

Objectives: Frequent cooking is associated with better diet quality. Scholars have identified associations between unmet social needs (e.g., unstable housing) and poor diet quality, yet few studies have explored unmet social needs as intermediate factors that influence associations between cooking frequency and diet quality. This study filled this gap by assessing the moderating effects of unmet social needs on the relationship between cooking frequency and self-rated diet quality among U.S. adults.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey was completed online in 2024 by 1,574 adults (mean age: 49.8; 51.5% female) living in the U.S. Participants self-reported socio-demographic and diet-quality information and responded to a short screener for social needs. Cooking frequency was measured via a Likert scale with the following categories: ≤1 time per week, 2-3 times per week, 4-6 times per week, and ≥ 1 time a day. Multivariable logistic regression was used to model associations between unmet social needs and cooking more than once per week. Interaction terms were used to assess whether each of the following unmet social needs moderated the association between cooking frequency and self-rated diet quality: unstable housing, unreliable car access, concern about utilities being shut off, difficulty paying bills, food insecurity, and issues getting childcare.

Results: Approximately 531 (33.8%) respondents cooked once a day or more and 577 (38.0%) self-rated their diet quality as good. Individuals with any of the measured unmet social needs had lower odds of reporting cooking more than once per week. Respondents with all 6 unmet social needs had 81% lower odds of cooking at least once per day than those with 0 unmet social needs (aOR: 0.19; 95% CI: 0.05 – 0.73). Interaction terms indicated that all 6 types of unmet social needs moderated the associations between cooking frequency and self-rated diet quality. Individuals who cooked at least once a day and had unstable housing were less likely to self-report better diet quality than those who cooked at least once a day and had stable housing (aOR: 0.37; 95% CI: 0.25 – 0.54).

Conclusions: Unmet social needs moderated associations between cooking frequency and self-rated diet quality.

Funding Sources: This work is funded by the National Institute for Minority Health & Health Disparities.