A Reminder to Nutrition Researchers: Disaggregate Data on Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders From Asian Americans

The article “Breastfeeding Initiation Trends by Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children Participation and Race/Ethnicity Among Medicaid Births” by Thoma et al 1 Thoma ME De Silva DA Kim J Hodges L Guthrie J Breastfeeding initiation trends by special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants, and children participation and race/ethnicity among Medicaid births. J Nutr Educ Behav. 2023; 55: 170-181 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (1) Google Scholar was recently published in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior. We thank the authors for their work and for publishing it with open access. This article presents breastfeeding initiation trends of participants from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, a program delivered across the nation, including its territories and commonwealths. These data are important for the collective efforts to promote healthy early infant feeding and the well-being of the people who give birth. However, as Native Hawaiian (Fialkowski), other Pacific Islander (CHamoru; Aflague), and Filipino (Esquivel) faculty members, registered dietitian nutritionists, and members of the Society of Nutrition Education and Behavior, we are disappointed to see that data for Asian Americans and Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islanders within this paper were aggregated together. We also noticed that the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior promotes this aggregation in the information it provides to potential authors on the collection of data, as shown in the excerpt below taken from the website https://www.jneb.org/content/authorinfo:Race or ethnicity was self-reported by the parents of the children from a list including non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Black, Hispanic, Asian or Pacific Islander, Native American (including Alaskan), biracial or multiracial (specify), or other (specify).[JNEB website] Response to “Breastfeeding Initiation Trends by Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children Participation and Race/Ethnicity Among Medicaid Births”Journal of Nutrition Education and BehaviorVol. 55Issue 9PreviewWe would like to thank the authors responding to our article, “Breastfeeding Initiation Trends by Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children Participation and Race/Ethnicity Among Medicaid Births” for raising the issue and prompting greater attention toward the need to disaggregate data for Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander (NHPI) groups, consistent with the 1997 Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Revisions to the Standards for the Classification of Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity. Full-Text PDF Reply to Fialowski, Letter to the Editor, SNEBJournal of Nutrition Education and BehaviorVol. 55Issue 9PreviewThank you to Fialowski et al for their Letter to the Editor highlighting the importance of disaggregating data for Asians and Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islanders. The Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior recognizes the unique cultural characteristics and health outcomes of these groups and supports the publication of research that expands our understanding of health disparities and associated health determinants of all racial and ethnic groups. The Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior has revised the Guidelines for Authors to appropriately reflect these groups in the example provided in the gender, race, and ethnicity general guidelines for collecting data: Race or ethnicity was self-reported by the parents of the children from a list including non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Black, Hispanic, Asian, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, AmericanIndian or Native Alaskan, or multiracial (specify), or other (specify). Full-Text PDF