Posted: November 2nd, 2009 - 7:29am
Source: Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, Volume 41, Issue 6, Pages 420-424

Abstract
Objective
To assess risk factors for diarrheal illness among clients of a Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) clinic in Miami, FL.
Design
A cross-sectional survey with questions about demographics, food safety practices, and diarrheal illness.
Setting
WIC clinic operated by the Miami-Dade County Health Department in Florida. WIC is a national program for nutritionally at-risk, low-income young children and pregnant or postpartum women.
Participants
WIC female clients at least 18 years of age who are able to read and speak English (n = 299).
Main Outcome Measure
Diarrheal illness, defined as having at least 3 loose stools for 2 or more consecutive days during the previous 30 days.
Analysis
Univariate and multiple logistic regression analyses.
Results
Food safety behaviors significantly associated with diarrheal illness included not washing hands before preparing meals (P = .048) and baby bottles (P = .045) or after changing diapers (P = .009) and not washing all items that touched raw meat before preparing the next food item (P = .023). In general, pregnant women reported less frequent hand washing and had a lower food safety score than nonpregnant women (P = .002).
Conclusions and Implications
These findings suggest that interventions to improve food handling practices such as proper hand washing are needed for WIC clients, particularly pregnant women.