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BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Health and Nutrition
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1544413
This article is part of the Research Topic Transforming Food Systems: Addressing Malnutrition and Inequality in Low- and Middle-Income Countries View all 12 articles

Assessing the Nutrition Knowledge, Beliefs, and Behaviors of Food Pantry Managers: Implications for Healthier Food Environments

Provisionally accepted
Sofia Sanchez Sofia Sanchez 1*Katie Funderburk Katie Funderburk 1Erin Reznicek Erin Reznicek 1Robert R Bubb Robert R Bubb 2Andrew Dandridge Frugé Andrew Dandridge Frugé 3Adrienne Duke-Marks Adrienne Duke-Marks 2James Hinnant James Hinnant 2Sondra M Parmer Sondra M Parmer 1
  • 1 Auburn University, Auburn, United States
  • 2 Department of Human Development and Family Studies (HDFS), College of Human Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, United States
  • 3 College of Nursing, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Introduction: Food pantry managers play a role in determininge a pantry's food environment and thus may influence client dietary composition. However, managers are an understudied influence on pantry food environments. We sought to understand food pantry manager nutrition knowledge, beliefs, and behaviors (KBB).We surveyed 476 Alabama food pantry manager nutrition KBB from November 2022-November 2023. Validated and previously published tools utilized include the Consumer Nutrition Knowledge Scale, a diet beliefs scale, and a dietary related consumer behavior questionnaire.Results: Managers were predominantly college educated (54%), white (74%), and female (74%) with a mean age of 60±13 years with 7±5.5 years of experience managing food pantries. Managers reported positive nutrition beliefs and behaviors but scored lower in objective nutrition knowledge.Exploratory analyses indicated moderate-to-very strong associations between KBB, pantry characteristics, and neighborhood characteristics.

    Keywords: food pantries, Nutrition environment, social determinants, community nutrition, SNAP

    Received: 12 Dec 2024; Accepted: 22 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Sanchez, Funderburk, Reznicek, Bubb, Frugé, Duke-Marks, Hinnant and Parmer. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Sofia Sanchez, Auburn University, Auburn, United States

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