Nutrition quality of food purchases varies by household income: the SHoPPER study

Abstract

Background Lower household income has been consistently associated with poorer diet quality. Household food purchases may be an important intervention target to improve diet quality among low income populations. Associations between household income and the diet quality of household food purchases were examined. Methods Food purchase receipt data were collected for 14 days from 202 urban households participating in a study about food shopping. Purchase data were analyzed using NDS-R software and scored using the Healthy Eating Index 2010 (HEI 2010). HEI total and subscores, and proportion of grocery dollars spent on food categories (e.g. fruits, vegetables, sugar sweetened beverages) were examined by household income-to-poverty ratio. Results Compared to lower income households, after adjusting for education, marital status and race, higher income households had significantly higher HEI total scores (mean [sd] = 68.2 [13.3] versus 51.6 [13.9], respectively, adjusted p = 0.05), higher total vegetable scores (mean [sd] = 3.6 [1.4] versus 2.3 [1.6], respectively, adjusted p < .01), higher dairy scores (mean [sd] = 5.6 [3.0] versus 5.0 [3.3], p = .05) and lower proportion of grocery dollars spent on frozen desserts (1% [.02] versus 3% [.07], respectively, p = .02). Conclusions Lower income households purchase less healthful foods compared with higher income households. Food purchasing patterns may mediate income differences in dietary intake quality. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02073643.

Relationship between Household Food Insecurity and Food and Nutrition Literacy among Children of 9-12 years of age: a cross-sectional study in a city of Iran

“…Also, the food choice literacy scores was lower in the food-insecure subjects. This result is consistent with many studies demonstrated HFI are associated with unfavorable eating behaviors and consequently low dietary quality, particularly among children (21)(22)(23)(24).…”

Understanding the Intersection of Race/Ethnicity, Socioeconomic Status, and Geographic Location: A Scoping Review of U.S. Consumer Food Purchasing

“…Thirty-four studies were included in this scoping review [ 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 ]. Information on customer purchasing assessment methodologies used across studies is shown in ( Table 1 ).…”

“…Most studies included in this review ( n = 19, 55.9%) examined SES differences in consumer food and/or beverage purchases [ 26 , 27 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 36 , 37 , 39 , 42 , 43 , 45 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 54 ]. These findings underscore that identifying purchasing patterns by SES continues to be a major priority in the field; included studies generally showed a lower likelihood of fruit, vegetable, and whole grain purchases and a higher likelihood for discretionary product purchases (i.e., salty snacks, sweets, and SSB) among consumers with lower incomes compared to higher incomes [ 58 ].…”

A Model Depicting the Retail Food Environment and Customer Interactions: Components, Outcomes, and Future Directions

“…For example, sources and timing of food benefits (e.g., SNAP benefit schedule) shape the number of food shopping trips and their food baskets, as diets tend to be healthier around the weeks that SNAP household benefits are redeemed versus other times of the month [ 105 , 106 ]. Household income is also consistently related to purchases with higher household incomes purchasing healthier foods and beverages and having greater access (e.g., fruits and vegetables) compared to lower income households [ 107 ]. In households of immigrant families, the level of acculturation of the head of household influences what food is purchased [ 108 , 109 ].…”