How Are Community Socio-Economic Factors Associated with the Sales of Unhealthy Products: Alcohol, Tobacco and Unhealthy Snack Food in Low Income Communities

Abstract

Objectives People under stress tend to use unhealthy coping mechanisms including using products like alcohol, tobacco and unhealthy snacks. The purpose of this study is to assess how measures of community socio-economic status, which may be proxies for community stress, are associated with the sales of unhealthy products (alcohol, tobacco, and unhealthy snacks) at a discount variety store chain. Specifically, we consider the following measures of community socio-economic status: population racial/ethnic composition, % of households on SNAP, % of households without a vehicle, walkability score and median community income. Methods Mixed effects linear regressions with random effects were used to examine the relationship between the weekly unit sales (per 1000 population) of three outcome variables (tobacco, alcohol, unhealthy snacks) and community socio-economic factors: % of households on SNAP, % of households without a vehicle, and median community income. Results The sales of alcohol, tobacco, and unhealthy snacks increased as the % of the population participating in SNAP increased. Other measures of community socio-economic status were not significantly (at 5% significance level) associated with tobacco or unhealthy snack sales. However, for alcohol sales, increases in: the median household income, walkability score and % of African American residents, were associated with a decrease in alcohol sales. Conclusions Low income neighborhoods frequently experience greater health burden compared to higher income neighborhoods. Understanding and quantifying the relationship between financial stress and unhealthy product consumption can help public health professionals intervene before chronic diseases manifest. Funding Sources Robert Woods Johnson Foundation.