1. Who’s cooking? Analysis of food preparation time in the 2003 ATUS
Jennifer Jabs, MS, RD and Carol M. Devine, PhD, RD
Abstract
Table1: Characteristics of subjects
Table 3: Of those reporting any time in food prep: Ln(min/day)
Women n=7349
Men n=5862
Characteristic n %*
Age:
21-30yr
1251
17.0
871
14.9
31-40yr
2196
29.9
1743
44.6
41-50yr
2090
28.4
1780
30.4
51-62yr
1812
26.7
1468
25.0
Race:
white
6090
82.9
4976
84.9
non-white
1259
17.1
886
15.1
Ethnicity:
non-Hispanic
6447
87.7
5148
87.8
Hispanic
902
12.3
714
12.2
Education:
<college degree
4119
56.1
3299
56.3
college degree
3230
44.0
2563
43.7
HH income:
<$40,000
3122
42.5
2045
34.9
≥$40,000
4227
57.5
3817
65.1
Family status:
no partner & no child
1485
20.2
1449
24.7
no partner & ≥1 child
1168
15.9
300
5.1
partner & no child
1659
22.6
1405
24.0
partner & ≥1 child
3037
41.3
2708
46.2
HH size:
1-3 people
4747
64.6
3690
63.0
4-13 people
2602
35.4
2172
27.1
Employment:
not
2014
27.4
743
12.7
part-time
1313
17.9
306
5.2
full-time
4022
54.7
4813
82.1
Interview data:
weekday
3584
48.8
2884
49.2
weekend
3765
51.2
2978
50.8
*May not add to 100 due to rounding
Womena
n=4748
Menb
n=2110
Characteristic
(relative to)
Coeff
p>z
Age:
31-40yr
0.021
0.62
0.112
0.13
41-50yr
0.055
0.20
0.138
0.06
51-62yr
(21-30yr)
0.034
0.48
0.108
0.17
Race:
non-white
(white)
0.173
0.00
0.164
0.01
Ethnicity:
Hispanic
(non-Hispanic)
0.270
0.250
Education:
college degree
(<college degree)
-0.099
0.005
0.91
HH income:
≥$40,000
(<$40,000)
-0.003
0.93
0.007
0.89
HH size:
4-13 people
(1-3 people)
0.072
0.04
-0.031
0.61
Family status:
no partner & ≥1 child
0.290
0.262
partner & no child
0.298
partner & ≥1child
(no partner & no child)
0.391
0.213
Employment:
part-time
-0.163
-0.225
0.03
full-time
(not-employed)
-0.299
-0.199
Interview data:
weekend
(weekday)
0.182
0.359
Constant
3.338
3.011
Adj R2: a=0.078; b=0.049 (sampling weights used in analysis)
Objective: To examine how individual, family, and employment characteristics are associated with time spent in daily food prep
Design & subjects: Logistic & linear regression analysis of 2003 ATUS data of men & women years age (n=13,211)
Results: 65% women & 36% men reported food prep time.
Women had greater odds of any time in food prep than men. Of those reporting any food prep time (all other variables constant) time spent in daily food prep: women=28.2min/d, men=20.3min/d. Having a partner increased women‘s odds and decreased men's odds of any time in food prep.
Conclusions: Daily food prep time differed by parental & partner status, ethnicity, age, and other socio-demographic characteristics. Food prep was undertaken more by women than men when controlling for individual, family, and employment characteristics.
Background
↑ household employment hours
↑ feelings of time pressure
↓ time spent in food preparation
↑ eating foods prepared away from home
Simplified analytic model
Daily time in food preparation
Family:
Child present
HH size
Partner present
HH income
Individual:
Gender
Age
Race-ethnicity
Education
Outcome:
Time in food prep
Employment:
Status (yes/no)
Hours
Table 4: Daily time in food prep
Women
Men
Any vs. none (logistic) n %
No time in food prep
2601
35.4
3752
64.0
Any time in food prep
4747
64.6
2110
36.0
Of those reporting any
range
Min/day in food prep
4748
1-654
1-430
Mean (Std Dev)
56.0(51.2)
42.4(43.7)
Table 5: Of those reporting any time- Calculations from regression (min/d)
Characteristic Women
Men
No partner & no child
28.2
20.3
No partner & ≥1 child
27.6
26.4
Partner & no child
37.9
24.1
Partner & ≥ 1 child
41.6
25.1
Other variables held at reference categories
Results - Table 2: Odds of spending any vs no time in daily food prep
Womena
n=7349
Menb n=5862
Characteristic
(relative to) OR
p>z
Age:
31-40yr
1.35
0.00
1.29
0.01
41-50yr
1.44
1.42
51-62yr
(21-30yr)
1.92
1.43
Race:
non-white
(white)
0.96
0.51
0.80
Ethnicity:
Hispanic
(non-Hispanic)
1.17
0.06
0.77
Education:
college degree
(<college degree)
0.98
0.71
1.11
0.09
HH Income:
≥$40,000
(<$40,000)
0.85
0.99
0.91
HH size:
4-13 people
(1-3 people)
1.25
1.05
Family status:
no partner & ≥1 child
1.73
1.80
partner & no child
1.69
partner & ≥1child
(no partner & no child)
2.71
0.90
0.23
Employment:
part-time
0.74
0.04
full-time
(not-employed)
0.66
0.63
Interview data:
weekend
(weekday)
0.79
0.15
Pseudo R2: a=0.044; b=0.022 (sampling weights used in analysis)
Methods
Conclusions
Descriptive statistics & bivariate analysis of variables
Variables grouped for categorical comparisons
Dropped those with unknown income
Limited to those yr age, not full-time students (n=13,211)
Data examined for normality
2 analysis performed:
none vs. any food prep: Logistic regression
for any time in food prep: Ln( daily min. in food prep): Linear regression
Included variables in analytic model, 2- & 3-way interactions
Interacted all variables with gender; rejected hypothesis of equality of coefficients across gender; subsequent models run by gender
Influence diagnostics: removal of most influential cases made little difference in results, all kept for analysis
Many reported no time in food prep (35% women, 64% men)
Gendered nature of food prep: Women more likely to do any & more food prep than men
Food prep time differed by parental & marital status, ethnicity, age, and other socio-demographic characteristics
Role differences
Women with partners have increased odds & men decreased odds of any time in food prep
Having children at home increase time reported in food prep by men & women
Smaller female:male differences among those reporting any daily food prep time
Day of week influences doing any (less likely on weekends) & time spent in food prep (longer time on weekends)
Implications
The social framework in which food prep is performed has implications for food assistance policy
Limited time spent in food prep has nutritional & health implications.
If goal to understand food prep time then need to measure: food prep as a secondary activity & all household members’ time use in food prep
Acknowledgements: John Cawley, Carole Bisogni, Elaine Wethington, Cornell University Office of Statistical Consulting, NIH: 5T32 DK