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Abstract:
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The Willow Comes to WIC program was designed to encourage fruit and vegetable (F/V) consumption in low-income families participating in The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). Participants receive cash value vouchers (CVV) for purchasing F/V. A survey was given to measure attitudes and behaviors related to F/V consumption and family's usage of CVV. The goal of this study was to determine whether the two sites of 995 families could be merged to better represent the total attitudes and behaviors of the population. Propensity score (PS) methodology was applied to evaluate the balance of participant data on F/V consumption and demographics, without being influenced by the responses. Comparability was demonstrated by the PS in a subset of 15 covariates through binary and ordinal logistic regression. Location incomparability based on the standardized difference of the PS was mainly from the demographics. Once the sites were successfully merged, sensitivity of the covariates to CVV usage was analyzed with higher statistical power. Modeling the remaining covariates revealed that utilizing CVV positively affected fruit consumption and preparation.
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