Neighborhood Prices of Healthier and Unhealthier Foods and Associations with Diet Quality: Evidence from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis

David M. Kern, Amy H. Auchincloss, Mark Stehr, Ana V. Diez Roux, Latetia V. Moore, Genevieve Kanter and Lucy F. Robinson
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David M. Kern: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Dornsife School of Public Health, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19140, USA
Amy H. Auchincloss: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Dornsife School of Public Health, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19140, USA
Ana V. Diez Roux: Dean’s Office, Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Urban Health Collaborative, Dornsife School of Public Health, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
Latetia V. Moore: Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity & Obesity Prevention & Control, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention & Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30329, USA
Lucy F. Robinson: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Dornsife School of Public Health, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19140, USA

IJERPH, 2017, vol. 14, issue 11, 1-14

Abstract: It is known that the price of food influences the purchasing and consumption decisions of individuals; however, little work has examined if the price of healthier food relative to unhealthier food in an individual’s neighborhood is associated with overall dietary quality while using data from multiple regions in the United States. Cross-sectional person-level data came from The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (exam 5, 2010–2012, n = 2765); a food frequency questionnaire assessed diet. Supermarket food/beverage prices came from Information Resources Inc. ( n = 794 supermarkets). For each individual, the average price of select indicators of healthier foods (vegetables, fruits, dairy) and unhealthier foods (soda, sweets, salty snacks), as well as their ratio, was computed for supermarkets within three miles of the person’s residential address. Logistic regression estimated odds ratios of a high-quality diet (top quintile of Healthy Eating Index 2010) associated with healthy-to-unhealthy price ratio, adjusted for individual and neighborhood characteristics. Sensitivity analyses used an instrumental variable (IV) approach. Healthier foods cost nearly twice as much as unhealthier foods per serving on average (mean healthy-to-unhealthy ratio = 1.97 [SD 0.14]). A larger healthy-to-unhealthy price ratio was associated with lower odds of a high-quality diet (OR = 0.76 per SD increase in the ratio, 95% CI = [0.64–0.9]). IV analyses largely confirmed these findings although—as expected with IV adjustment—confidence intervals were wide (OR = 0.82 [0.57–1.19]). Policies to address the large price differences between healthier and unhealthy foods may help improve diet quality in the United States.

Keywords: diet; food environment; food prices; instrumental variable analysis; nutrition (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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