Release Date: June 1, 2005
AFRICAN-AMERICANS
WHO SHOP IN SUPERMARKETS EAT MORE FRUITS AND VEGETABLES
By Becky Ham, Science Writer
Health Behavior News Service
A new study of 266 African-American women in Detroit concludes that
those who shop regularly in supermarkets eat more fruits and vegetables
than those who shop in independent neighborhood markets.
Women who were happy with the selection and quality of fresh produce
at their market also ate more fruits and vegetables than others in
the study, regardless of the cost and type of store. The study appears
in the July issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
More than 75 percent of the women who shopped in the city frequented
independent grocers, while 85 percent of those who shopped in the suburbs
used supermarkets and none used an independent market. The women in
the study lived about 2.5 miles from the nearest Detroit supermarket
and four miles from the nearest suburban supermarket.
The findings may point to
an indirect link between income and healthy eating, since “women with higher per capita incomes were more
likely to shop at supermarkets than at other stores,” according
to Shannon Zenk, Ph.D., of the University of Illinois at Chicago and
colleagues.
The researchers found no direct link between income and fruit and
vegetable consumption.
Zenk and colleagues asked women in the study about where they shopped
most often, how they would rate the selection, quality and affordability
of the fresh produce at the store where they shopped and how often
they ate fruits and vegetables.
Women who shopped at supermarkets ate one more serving of fruits and
vegetables daily than those who shopped at independent markets, Zenk
and colleagues concluded.
In the study, supermarkets included full-service grocers in a national
or regional chain; specialty markets included markets dedicated to
selling one type of food like meats or produce; and independent markets
were full-service grocers not affiliated with any chain.
Zenk and colleagues say it is difficult to tell, based on their data,
whether the women were shopping at a particular type of store in a
particular location because they preferred that store or whether they
were limited by their transportation options to rely on certain grocers.
“The frequency of women’s intake of fruit and vegetables
may have influenced their decisions on where to shop and their perceptions
of the selection and quality of the produce for sale,” Zenk says.
“Nevertheless, it appeared that those women with the ability
or resources to get to suburban supermarkets chose to shop at supermarkets,
while those without the ability or resources were restricted to independent
neighborhood markets,” she adds.
“Given that women are often the main household food shoppers,
the stores and foods to which they have access may not only affect
their personal nutrition, but also the nutrition of other household
members,” the researchers conclude.
All of the women lived in an area of Detroit that was 97 percent African-American
and had 35 percent of households living below the poverty line in 2000.
A survey of the greater community area found no chain supermarkets,
13 independent grocery stores and 93 liquor stores serving about 90,000
residents.
In contrast, a nearby mixed white and African-American middle-income
community had 19 grocery stores, including eight chain supermarkets
and 18 liquor stores for 78,000 residents.
Other researchers have documented the lack of supermarkets in poorer
communities. For instance, a 2002 study of 216 communities in Maryland,
Minnesota, Mississippi and North Carolina found three times as many
supermarkets in high-income neighborhoods compared to low-income neighborhoods,
and four times as many supermarkets in mostly white neighborhoods as
in mostly African-American neighborhoods.
The study was supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
and the National Cancer Institute.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Health Behavior News Service: (202) 387-2829 or www.hbns.org.
Center for the Advancement of Health
Contact: Ira R. Allen
Vice President of Public Affairs
202.387.2829
press@cfah.org
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