Association of supermarket characteristics with the body mass index of their shoppers

Abstract

BackgroundResearch on the built food environment and weight status has mostly focused on the presence/absence of food outlets while ignoring their internal features or where residents actually shop. We explored associations of distance travelled to supermarkets and supermarket characteristics with shoppers’ body mass index (BMI).MethodsShoppers (n=555) of five supermarkets situated in different income areas in the city were surveyed for food shopping habits, demographics, home postal code, height and weight. Associations of minimum distance to a supermarket (along road network, objectively measured using ArcGIS), its size, food variety and food basket price with shoppers’ BMI were investigated. The ‘food basket’ was defined as the mixture of several food items commonly consumed by residents and available in all supermarkets.ResultsSupermarkets ranged in total floor space (7500–135 000 square feet) and had similar varieties of fruits, vegetables and cereals. The majority of participants shopped at the surveyed supermarket more than once per week (mean range 1.2 ± 0.8 to 2.3 ± 2.1 times per week across the five supermarkets, p < 0.001), and identified it as their primary store for food (52% overall). Mean participant BMI of the five supermarkets ranged from 23.7 ± 4.3 kg/m2 to 27.1 ± 4.3 kg/m2 (p < 0.001). Median minimum distance from the shoppers’ residence to the supermarket they shopped at ranged from 0.96 (0.57, 2.31) km to 4.30 (2.83, 5.75) km (p < 0.001). A negative association was found between food basket price and BMI. There were no associations between BMI and minimum distance to the supermarket, or other supermarket characteristics. After adjusting for age, sex, dissemination area median individual income and car ownership, BMI of individuals who shopped at Store 1 and Store 2, the supermarkets with lowest price of the ‘food basket’, was 3.66 kg/m2 and 3.73 kg/m2 higher compared to their counterparts who shopped at the supermarket where the ‘food basket’ price was highest (p < 0.001).ConclusionsThe food basket price in supermarkets was inversely associated with BMI of their shoppers. Our results suggest that careful manipulation of food prices may be used as an intervention for decreasing BMI.

Do supermarkets contribute to the obesity pandemic in developing countries?

“…Buying in a supermarket is associated with a 23 percentage point lower probability (P < 0·001) of severe stunting. Control variables for these child/adolescent models were chosen based on the broad nutrition and health literature (16,19,(42)(43)(44)(45)(46) . Factors that contribute to overnutrition may be somewhat different from factors that contribute to undernutrition, which is why model specifications in Table 3 are not uniform for the different nutritional outcome variables.…”

“…Research on the impact of supermarkets on consumer nutritional status in developing countries is rare. Studies in the USA show that access to supermarkets is nowadays often associated with lower obesity rates (18)(19)(20)(21) , but the situation in developing countries is different. We are aware of only one study that has looked at the impact of supermarkets on nutritional status in a developing country, namely Guatemala (15) .…”

Distance to Store, Food Prices, and Obesity in Urban Food Deserts

“…Two studies found no association between distance to the store where people did their major food shopping and BMI. 23,24 Shopping at a discount store has been associated with higher BMI. 15,25 Shopping at a store located in a neighborhood with low-SES residents has also been associated with higher BMI.…”

“…26 Another two studies found no relationship between in-store characteristics (e.g., summary score of quality, availability, and price of food; availability of fruits, vegetables, and cereals) and BMI. 24,27 …”

Globalisation of agrifood systems and sustainable nutrition

“…Research on the impact of supermarkets on consumer nutritional status in developing countries is rare. Studies in the USA show that access to supermarkets is nowadays often associated with lower obesity (50) , but the situation in developing countries is different.…”