Supermarket sales data: a tool for measuring regional differences in dietary habits

Närhinen, Maria; Berg, Mari-Anna; Nissinen, Aulikki; Puska, Pekka

doi:10.1017/s1368980099000373

Cited by 15 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 6 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…A recent study in Finland has shown similarity between regional sales of dairy products, fats and oils, and reported dietary habits of adult populations 16 . For the majority of the UK, supermarkets dominate the supply of domestic food and as such have a key influence on the nutritional content of the diet.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The use of supermarket till receipts to determine the fat and energy intake in a UK population

Ransley

Donnelly

Khara

et al. 2001

Public Health Nutr.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objectives: To validate the use of supermarket receipts as an index of fat and energy intake in a population that buys most of its food from supermarkets. Design: Cross-sectional, prospective dietary survey ± feasibility study. Setting: Households situated within a 20-mile radius of a large (Tesco) supermarket in Leeds. Subjects: Two hundred and fourteen households who spend $60% of their food purse in (Tesco and other) supermarkets. Results: Mean daily household purchase of fat, energy and percentage energy from fat contained in food from supermarkets were 185 g, 19.2 MJ and 35.9%. Mean daily household intakes of fat and energy were 190 g and 20.7 MJ, and 35% of energy was derived from fat. Mean household size was 2.4 persons. The association between the amount of fat and energy purchased from supermarkets and the amount of fat and energy consumed by households was strong. 0.90 MJ (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.8±1.0) of energy were consumed for every 1 MJ purchased from supermarkets and 0.76 g (95% CI: 0.64±0.87) of fat were consumed for every 1 g of fat purchased. Conclusions:The results show a strong association between estimates of the intakes of fat and energy and percentage energy from fat using 4-day food diaries and 28 days of receipts, in populations who buy most of their food from supermarkets. They also show that the fat content of total food purchases from supermarkets is 35.9% energy from fat compared with 33% energy from fat recommended by the Department of Health. This preliminary research indicates the feasibility of and potential for utilising large quantities of readily available data generated from supermarket checkouts in dietary surveys. Keywords Till receipts Fat Energy Supermarkets Household dietary assessmentOver the course of the last three decades the proportion of household food purchased from supermarkets has increased. A recent survey showed that 90% of UK households purchase most of their food through this route 1,2 . As supermarkets have come to dominate the supply of food in the UK, developments in information technology and marketing have provided the impetus for competing retailers to develop efficient systems for the electronic generation of itemised receipts at the point of sale. Itemised receipts record a detailed prospective list of household food and drink purchased for home consumption, and as such may provide valuable data on the nutritional composition of the family diet, expenditure on food and food purchasing behaviour. The sales data appearing on the receipt also provide the retailer with information that can be used for marketing purposes 3,4 . Products in a supermarket are allocated a unique bar code that enables related information to be held in a database, for example its weight, price and nutritional content. Access to this information can facilitate coding and nutritional analysis of food items on household supermarket receipts and hence most of a household's domestic food supplies. Nelson and Bingham have reviewed established methods of collecting da...

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The use of supermarket till receipts to determine the fat and energy intake in a UK population

Ransley

Donnelly

Khara

et al. 2001

Public Health Nutr.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…23,37 In this way, detailed information available from sales data can be used to detect the differences in the diets of different population groups. For example, seven studies in this review found ethnic, regional, and income differences in population dietary habits.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…First, generalizability is a concern because in the studies reviewed, data coverage was frequently limited to a handful of stores and households and specific food items. Kirlin et al 23 and Närhi-nen et al 37 reported difficulty in gaining support from retailers to provide sales data routinely because the data were confidential. Additional work is required to explore feasible ways to get national data coverage by increasing the accessibility of sales data and reducing cost and access barriers, for example, by exploring ways to get retailer support and working with local market research companies to identify ways to obtain scanner data sets suitable for long-term nutritional surveillance at a favorable price.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The remaining 18 studies used sales data to assess the impact of policy changes on population food purchases, 29,30 the effect of food pricing on healthier food choices, 31 daily variations in food sales, 32 ethnic differences, 33-35 regional differences 36,37 or income differences in dietary habits, 38 validity of self-reported intake, 39 and factors related to food purchasing behaviors. [40][41][42][43][44][45][46] Full details of the 18 studies are given in Table 2.…”

Section: Other Monitoring Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Supermarket Sales Data: Feasibility and Applicability in Population Food and Nutrition Monitoring

2008

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Population food and nutrition monitoring plays a critical role in understanding suboptimal nutrition at the population level, yet current monitoring methods such as national surveys are not practical to undertake on a continuous basis. Supermarket sales data potentially address this gap by providing detailed, timely, and inexpensive monitoring data for informing policies and anticipating trends. This paper reviews 22 studies that used supermarket sales data to examine food purchasing patterns. Despite some methodological limitations, feasibility studies showed promising results. The potential and limitations of using supermarket sales data to supplement food and nutrition monitoring methods are discussed.

show abstract

“…Supermarket sales data have been used for a variety of purposes, including testing interventions that promote healthier food choices [6][7][8][9] , understanding determinants of food purchasing behaviour 10,11 , measuring regional differences in dietary habits 12,13 and as an index of nutrient intake in a population who buy most of their food from supermarkets 14 .…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Food and nutrient availability in New Zealand: an analysis of supermarket sales data

Hamilton

Mhurchú

Priest

2007

Public Health Nutr.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objective: To examine food and nutrient availability in New Zealand using supermarket sales data in conjunction with a brand-specific supermarket food composition database (SFD). Design: The SFD was developed by selecting the top-selling supermarket food products and linking them to food composition data from a variety of sources, before merging with individualised sales data. Supermarket food and nutrient data were then compared with data from national nutrition and household budget/economic surveys. Setting: A supermarket in Wellington, New Zealand. Subjects: Eight hundred and eighty-two customers (73% female; mean age 38 years) who shopped regularly at the participating supermarket store and for whom electronic sales data were available for the period February 2004-January 2005.Results: Top-selling supermarket food products included full-fat milk, white bread, sugary soft drinks and butter. Key food sources of macronutrients were similar between the supermarket sales database and national nutrition surveys. For example, bread was the major source of energy and contributed 12-13% of energy in all three data sources. Proportional expenditure on fruit, vegetables, meat, poultry, fish, farm products and oils, and cereal products recorded in the Household Economic Survey and supermarket sales data were within 2% of each other. Conclusions: Electronic supermarket sales data can be used to evaluate a number of important aspects of food and nutrient availability. Many of our findings were broadly comparable with national nutrition and food expenditure survey data, and supermarket sales have the advantage of being an objective, convenient, upto-date and cost-effective measure of household food purchases.

show abstract

Supermarket sales data: a tool for measuring regional differences in dietary habits

Abstract: Objective: To assess how well supermarket sales data from a major supermarket chain can reflect on regional differences in dietary behaviour by comparing the sales data with the results provided by the annual health behaviour surveys. Design: Cross-sectional observational study.

Cited by 15 publications

References 6 publications

The use of supermarket till receipts to determine the fat and energy intake in a UK population

The use of supermarket till receipts to determine the fat and energy intake in a UK population

Supermarket Sales Data: Feasibility and Applicability in Population Food and Nutrition Monitoring

Food and nutrient availability in New Zealand: an analysis of supermarket sales data

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About