Study looks at fresh food access and influence on eating habits

By Dr. Ananya Mandal, MDJul 13 2011

According to a new U.S. study living closer to supermarkets and grocery stores did not mean that urban dwellers ate more fruits and vegetables, or had a healthier overall diet. On the other hand having more fast-food restaurants nearby did mean that low-income men ate at the chain restaurants more often. The study was published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

The researchers believe that having supermarkets and grocery stores in poor neighbourhoods with few or no healthy food options could be the answer but supermarkets and health-food stores are reluctant to open branches in low-income areas.

Study author Penny Gordon-Larsen, of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill said the association between food access and what people eat is complicated. She said, “It's not simply enough to introduce a grocery store.” They write, “Our findings provide some evidence for zoning restrictions on fast food restaurants within 3 km of low-income residents but suggest that increased access to food stores may require complementary or alternative strategies to promote dietary behaviour change.”

For the study the team tracked about 5,000 young adults living in four cities: Birmingham, Alabama, Chicago, Illinois, Minneapolis, Minnesota and Oakland, California. Starting in 1985, researchers surveyed the participants every few years about their eating habits, including their intake of fruits and vegetables, and how often they visited fast-food restaurants. They also calculated how many fast-food chain restaurants, grocery stores, and supermarkets were within walking or short driving distance from each person's home

Though the study did not measure how many times people actually went to fast food restaurants, a past study from the same cities showed that on average, young adults visited fast food restaurants once or twice a week. In general, having more supermarkets or grocery stores nearby did not influence how well residents followed guidelines on fruit and vegetable intake, nor how healthy their diets were overall.

Daniel Block, who studies food access and behaviour at Chicago State University and wasn't involved in the study said, “There are a lot of reasons that food access is an issue, but it's still quite unclear as to what the actual effect (of bringing in new supermarkets) would be on people's eating habits.” He suggested thinking “outside the supermarket box,” recommending community gardens as a non-traditional way of promoting healthy eating and bringing people together.

In a research letter published alongside the new study, Dr. Hilary Seligman of the University of California, San Francisco and her colleagues present findings showing that urbanites with diabetes who had trouble affording food were more likely to report severe low blood sugar episodes, including fainting, than those who said they always got enough food. Almost half of people surveyed were “food insecure”. Gordon-Larsen said more research is needed to see how people make decisions about what to eat and where to buy it. “We're talking about a top-to-bottom approach that would be important,” she added.