Baseline Assessment of a Healthy Corner Store Initiative: Associations between Food Store Environments, Shopping Patterns, Customer Purchases, and Dietary Intake in Eastern North Carolina

Stephanie B. Jilcott Pitts, Qiang Wu, Kimberly P. Truesdale, Melissa N. Laska, Taras Grinchak, Jared T. McGuirt, Lindsey Haynes-Maslow, Ronny A. Bell and Alice S. Ammerman
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Stephanie B. Jilcott Pitts: Department of Public Health, Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27834, USA
Qiang Wu: Department of Biostatistics, College of Allied Health, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27834, USA
Kimberly P. Truesdale: Department of Nutrition, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27514, USA
Melissa N. Laska: Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
Taras Grinchak: Department of Public Health, Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27834, USA
Jared T. McGuirt: Department of Nutrition, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC 27413, USA
Lindsey Haynes-Maslow: Department of Agricultural and Human Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA
Ronny A. Bell: Department of Public Health, Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27834, USA
Alice S. Ammerman: Department of Nutrition, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27514, USA

IJERPH, 2017, vol. 14, issue 10, 1-13

Abstract: In 2016, the North Carolina (NC) Legislature allocated $250,000 to the NC Department of Agriculture, to identify and equip small food retailers to stock healthier foods and beverages in eastern NC food deserts (the NC Healthy Food Small Retailer Program, HFSRP). The purpose of this study was to examine associations between food store environments, shopping patterns, customer purchases, and dietary consumption among corner store customers. We surveyed 479 customers in 16 corner stores regarding demographics, food purchased, shopping patterns, and self-reported fruit, vegetable, and soda consumption. We objectively assessed fruit and vegetable consumption using a non-invasive reflection spectroscopy device to measure skin carotenoids. We examined associations between variables of interest, using Pearson’s correlation coefficients and adjusted linear regression analyses. A majority (66%) of participants were African American, with a mean age of 43 years, and a mean body mass index (BMI) of 30.0 kg/m 2 . There were no significant associations between the healthfulness of food store offerings, customer purchases, or dietary consumption. Participants who said they had purchased fruits and vegetables at the store previously reported higher produce intake (5.70 (4.29) vs. 4.60 (3.28) servings per day, p = 0.021) versus those who had not previously purchased fresh produce. The NC Legislature has allocated another $250,000 to the HFSRP for the 2018 fiscal year. Thus, evaluation results will be important to inform future healthy corner store policies and initiatives.

Keywords: food environment; diet; food availability; food store; convenience store (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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