Abstract:
Division of labor in household food preparation tasks is of
interest in dietary intervention projects. Randomly selected families
were recruited to participate in a 5-year family-based study. A small
group format that emphasized family involvement was used to promote
change from the American diet (40% fat, 500 mg cholesterol P/S = .05)
to the Alternative diet (20% fat, 100 mg cholesterol, P/S = 1.0). The
change of division of labor in the households was evaluated from
baseline to 60 months. A subsample of 109 male-female couples who
were not divorced, pregnant or ill, responded to a questionnaire
regarding who does the cooking, shopping and deciding what the family
will eat. Plasma lipids and dietary intake were assessed at baseline
and at 60 months.
At baseline, the majority of men and women indicated that the
wives did most of the cooking, deciding and shopping, although both
women and men indicated that they did more of the task than their
spouse said they did. The overall distribution of labor in cooking and deciding did not significantly change after 5 years of dietary
intervention at the family level; however, there was a trend towards
increased participation by the men in these tasks. Men's
participation in shopping, however, significantly increased.
The couples were grouped according the husbands' reported
increase or decrease in involvement in these tasks, and diet and lipid
changes were evaluated. Increased involvement in household food
preparation tasks did not lead to significantly greater dietary change
except for consumption of polyunsaturated fat. The wives of men who
increased their shopping reported an increase in total fat and
saturated fat when compared to changes seen in the other wives. Taken
as a group, both husbands and wives decreased their reported fat,
cholesterol and saturated fat consumption and increased their reported
carbohydrate intake in a manner similar to that suggested in Phase 1
of the Alternative diet. Plasma lipids remained stable in both men
and women. Household food-related task performance does not
profoundly change when couples participate in a family-based
intervention project, and the small changes seen do not have an effect
on the outcome variables.
