B’more Healthy Corner Stores for Moms and Kids: Identifying Optimal Behavioral Economic Strategies to Increase WIC Redemptions in Small Urban Corner Stores

Caroline R. Wensel, Angela C.B. Trude, Lisa Poirier, Riyad Alghamdi, Antonio Trujillo, Elizabeth Anderson Steeves, David Paige and Joel Gittelsohn
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Caroline R. Wensel: Human Nutrition Program, Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N. Wolfe St, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
Angela C.B. Trude: Human Nutrition Program, Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N. Wolfe St, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
Lisa Poirier: Human Nutrition Program, Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N. Wolfe St, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
Riyad Alghamdi: Human Nutrition Program, Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N. Wolfe St, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
Antonio Trujillo: Health Systems Program, Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N. Wolfe St, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
Elizabeth Anderson Steeves: Department of Nutrition, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, 1215 W. Cumberland Ave., Knoxville, TN 37996, USA
David Paige: Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N. Wolfe St, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
Joel Gittelsohn: Human Nutrition Program, Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N. Wolfe St, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA

IJERPH, 2018, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-13

Abstract: Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) redemption rates have been declining in many low-income urban settings, potentially related to aspects of the food environment. B’more Healthy Corner Stores for Moms and Kids was a feasibility trial in Baltimore City that aimed to test multiple behavioral economic (BE) strategies in 10 corner stores (intervention = eight stores, comparison = two stores), to evaluate their influence on the stocking and redemptions of WIC foods. Tested strategies included in-person storeowner training, point of purchase promotion, product placement, and grouping of products in a display. All four strategies were feasible and implemented with high reach, dose delivered, and fidelity. Additionally, text messaging was found to be an acceptable form of intervention reinforcement for storeowners. Analyses to assess change in stocking of WIC foods, total sales of WIC foods, and sales of WIC foods to WIC clients, revealed consistent positive changes after implementation of the store owner training strategy, while changes after the implementation of other strategies were mixed. Furthermore, WIC food sales to WIC clients significantly increased after the simultaneous implementation of two strategies, compared to one ( p > 0.05). Results suggest that store owner training was the most influential strategy and that the implementation of more BE strategies does not necessarily lead to proportional increases in stocking and sales. Selected BE strategies appear to be an effective way of increasing stocking and sales of WIC foods in small urban food stores.

Keywords: nutrition intervention; public health; food environment; underserved populations; behavioral economics; WIC (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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