Objective: To examine demographic differences in frequency of use of technologies and interest in receiving nutrition information via technology by low-income parents and caregivers.
Design: Descriptive, cross-sectional study.
Setting: Head Start and state-funded child care programs.
Participants: A total of 806 parents and caregivers from low-income families.
Variables measured: A 20-item survey assessed frequency of use and interest in technologies (dependent variables) and collected participant age and ethnicity (independent variables).
Analysis: Multivariate ANOVA analysis investigated whether age, ethnicity, and their interactions were related to frequency of use and interest in technology types.
Results: Daily rates of usage for Internet, text messaging, and cell phone use were over 60%. However, Twitter and blogs were accessed daily by < 13% of respondents. The omnibus 2-way interaction of ethnicity and age was nonsignificant. However, main effects for ethnicity (Wilks' λ = .85; F = 3.13; P < .001) and age (Wilks' λ = .89; F = 2.29; P < .001) were observed.
Conclusions and implications: Facebook, e-mail, texting, and smartphone applications may be innovative modalities to engage with low-income parents and caregivers aged ≤ 45. However, some strategies may be ineffective for reaching Hispanic families as they reported less use of the Internet, Facebook, and e-mail as well as less interest in e-mail.
Keywords: child nutrition sciences; electronic e-mail; low-income population; social media; technology.
Published by Elsevier Inc.