scholarly journals Disparities of Food Availability and Affordability within Convenience Stores in Bexar County, Texas

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Lee Smith ◽  
T. S. Sunil ◽  
Camerino I. Salazar ◽  
Sadaf Rafique ◽  
Marcia G. Ory
Keyword(s):  
Food Availability ◽  
Food Environment ◽  
Food Choices ◽  
Whole Grain ◽  
Bexar County ◽  
Convenience Stores ◽  
Chi Squared ◽  
Baked Potato ◽  
Healthful Food

The American Diabetes Association (ADA) recommends healthful food choices; however, some geographic areas are limited in the types of foods they offer. Little is known about the role of convenience stores as viable channels to provide healthier foods in our “grab and go” society. The purposes of this study were to (1) identify foods offered within convenience stores located in two Bexar County, Texas, ZIP Codes and (2) compare the availability and cost of ADA-recommended foods including beverages, produce, grains, and oils/fats. Data were analyzed from 28 convenience store audits performed in two sociodemographically diverse ZIP Codes in Bexar County, Texas. Chi-squared tests were used to compare food availability, andt-tests were used to compare food cost in convenience stores between ZIP Codes. A significantly larger proportion of convenience stores in more affluent areas offered bananas (χ2=4.17,P=0.003), whole grain bread (χ2=8.33,P=0.004), and baked potato chips (χ2=13.68,P<0.001). On average, the price of diet cola (t=−2.12,P=0.044) and certain produce items (e.g., bananas, oranges, tomatoes, broccoli, and cucumber) was significantly higher within convenience stores in more affluent areas. Convenience stores can play an important role to positively shape a community’s food environment by stocking healthier foods at affordable prices.

scholarly journals Consumers' Perceptions of Healthy Food Availability in Online Food Delivery Applications (OFD Apps) and Its Association With Food Choices Among Public University Students in Malaysia

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisa Zhen Rong Eu ◽  
Mohd Jamil Sameeha
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
Food Availability ◽  
Food Environment ◽  
Food Choice ◽  
Food Choices ◽  
Public University ◽  
Food Delivery ◽  
Healthy Food ◽  
Healthy Food Availability ◽  
Significant Difference

This retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted to study consumers' perceptions of healthy food availability in online food delivery applications (OFD apps) among public university students in Malaysia and its association with their food choices. A total of 290 subjects aged 19–29 years old were recruited from 20 public universities in Malaysia via snowball sampling. Data was collected through an online questionnaire which consisted of socio-demographic status, use of OFD apps (most frequently used brand, usage frequency, food choice, and expenditure per transaction), factors affecting food choice in OFD apps, consumers' perceptions of healthy food availability in OFD apps and recommendation for improvements. The most frequently used apps among the subjects was Food Panda (46.6%), however, majority of the subjects in this study (41.4%) rarely used OFD apps. Also, most of the subjects ordered unhealthy food (77.6%) and spent up to RM15–RM19 for each transaction (43.1%). There was no significant difference between the use of OFD apps and gender (p &gt; 0.05). Among the five food choice motives, “price and convenience” motive was the most influencing food choice factor in OFD apps. Majority of the subjects (76.9%) had a negative perception of healthy food availability (variety, price, and quality of healthy food) in OFD apps. No significant association was found between consumers' perceptions of healthy food availability in OFD apps and their food choices made in OFD apps among the subjects in this study (p &gt; 0.05). Also, majority (85.9%) responded they are keen to purchase healthy foods through OFD apps if they are given an option. However, most Malaysian public university students perceived that there were not much variety of healthy food, of good quality and affordable price, available in OFD apps. This finding suggests that the online food environment in Malaysia are perceived as unhealthy. Future studies can explore the online food environment particularly its impact on community health and well-being. Public health professionals and policymakers need to address the online food environment issues as part of the obesogenic food environment in Malaysia especially when OFD is one of the most convenient service in this country.

Cutting Calories: The Preference for Lower Caloric Density Versus Smaller Quantities Among Restrained and Unrestrained Eaters

2020 ◽  
Vol 57 (5) ◽  
pp. 948-965
Author(s):  
Peggy J. Liu ◽  
Kelly L. Haws
Keyword(s):  
Dietary Restraint ◽  
Food Choices ◽  
Potato Chips ◽  
Portion Size ◽  
Caloric Density ◽  
Baked Potato ◽  
Food Offerings ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
High Calorie

The marketplace includes many attractive high-calorie indulgent food offerings. Despite their appeal, consumers may often be prompted to consider lower-calorie-package offerings instead (e.g., 100-calorie packs). The question thus arises: What predicts consumers’ preferences between different kinds of lower-calorie offerings? The authors conceptualize two different routes to lower-calorie versions of indulgent foods: a lower-caloric-density version (e.g., baked potato chips) or a smaller-portion-size version (e.g., a smaller bag of potato chips). The authors examine how such versions are differentially preferred and why, focusing on the key role of dietary restraint. The authors show that as dietary restraint increases, the preference for a lower-calorie version created via lower caloric density (vs. a smaller portion size) increases. Differential weights placed on health and fullness goals help explain differing preferences across dietary restraint (as the lower-caloric-density version is perceived as healthier and more filling, albeit less tasty, than the smaller-portion-size version). This framework offers theoretical implications for understanding two routes to cutting calories, practical implications for food marketers, and methodological implications for studying food choices.

scholarly journals Experiences of overweight/obese adolescents in navigating their home food environment

2015 ◽  
Vol 18 (18) ◽  
pp. 3278-3286 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allison W Watts ◽  
Chris Y Lovato ◽  
Susan I Barr ◽  
Rhona M Hanning ◽  
Louise C Mâsse
Keyword(s):  
Home Environment ◽  
Food Environment ◽  
Parenting Practices ◽  
Lifestyle Modification ◽  
Food Choices ◽  
Parenting Strategies ◽  
Home Food Environment ◽  
Obese Adolescents ◽  
Home Food ◽  
Healthful Food

AbstractObjectiveTo explore perceived factors that impede or facilitate healthful eating within the home environment among overweight/obese adolescents.DesignIn the present qualitative photovoice study, participants were instructed to take photographs of things that made it easier or harder to make healthful food choices at home. Digital photographs were reviewed and semi-structured interviews were conducted to promote discussion of the photographs. Data were analysed using constant comparative analysis.SettingVancouver, Canada, in 2012–2013.SubjectsTwenty-two overweight/obese adolescents who completed a family-based lifestyle modification intervention.ResultsThe mean age of participants was 14 (sd 1·9) years, 77 % were female and their mean BMI Z-score was 2·4 (sd 0·6). Adolescents talked about six aspects of the home environment that influenced their eating habits (in order of frequency): home cooking, availability and accessibility of foods/beverages, parenting practices, family modelling, celebrations and screen use/studying. In general, homes with availability of less healthful foods, where family members also liked to eat less healthful foods and where healthier foods were less abundant or inaccessible were described as barriers to healthful eating. Special occasions and time spent studying or in front of the screen were also conducive to less healthful food choices. Home cooked meals supported adolescents in making healthier food choices, while specific parenting strategies such as encouragement and restriction were helpful for some adolescents.ConclusionsAdolescents struggled to make healthful choices in their home environment, but highlighted parenting strategies that were supportive. Targeting the home food environment is important to enable healthier food choices among overweight/obese adolescents.

Spatial inequalities of retail food stores may determine availability of healthful food choices in a Brazilian metropolis

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
Mariana Souza Lopes ◽  
Waleska Teixeira Caiaffa ◽  
Amanda Cristina de Souza Andrade ◽  
Ariene Silva do Carmo ◽  
Sharrelle Barber ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Residential Segregation ◽  
Food Environment ◽  
Food Choices ◽  
Food Stores ◽  
Economic Segregation ◽  
Spatial Inequalities ◽  
Proportional Odds Models ◽  
Belo Horizonte ◽  
Retail Food ◽  
Healthful Food

Abstract Objective: To examine the association between economic residential segregation and food environment. Design: Ecological. Food stores categorized according to the NOVA classification were geocoded, and absolute availability was calculated for each neighborhood. Segregation was measured using local Gi* statistic, a measure of the standard deviation (SD) between the economic composition of a neighborhood (the proportion of heads of households in neighborhoods earn monthly income of 0 to 3 minimum wages) and larger metropolitan area, weighted by the economic composition of surrounding neighborhoods. Segregation was categorized as high [most segregated], medium [integrated], and low [less segregated or integrated]. A proportional odds models were used to model the association between segregation and food environment. Setting: Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Participants: Food stores. Results: After adjustment for covariates, neighborhoods characterized by high economic segregation had fewer food stores overall compared to neighborhoods characterized by low segregation [OR=0.56;CI95%=0.45-0.69]. In addition, high segregated neighborhoods were 49% (OR=0.51;95%CI=0.42–0.61) and 45% (OR=0.55;95% CI=0.45–0.67) less likely to have a high number of food stores that predominantly marketed ultra-processed foods and mixed food stores, respectively, as compared to their counterparts. Conclusions: Economic segregation is associated with differences in the distribution of food stores. Both low and high segregation territories should be prioritized by public policies to ensure healthy and adequate nutrition as a right for all communities. The former must continue to be protected from access to unhealthy commercial food outlets while the latter must be the locus of actions that limit the availability of unhealthy commercial food store.

scholarly journals Kids in a Candy Store: An Objective Analysis of Children’s Interactions with Food in Convenience Stores

Nutrients ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 2143
Author(s):  
Christina McKerchar ◽  
Moira Smith ◽  
Ryan Gage ◽  
Jonathan Williman ◽  
Gillian Abel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Environment ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Focused Attention ◽  
Sectional Study ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Product Packaging ◽  
Convenience Stores ◽  
Collection Period ◽  
Food And Drink

Increasing rates of childhood obesity worldwide has focused attention on the obesogenic food environment. This paper reports an analysis of children’s interactions with food in convenience stores. Kids’Cam was a cross-sectional study conducted from July 2014 to June 2015 in New Zealand in which 168 randomly selected children aged 11–14 years old wore a wearable camera for a 4–day period. In this ancillary study, images from children who visited a convenience store were manually coded for food and drink availability. Twenty-two percent of children (n = 37) visited convenience stores on 62 occasions during the 4-day data collection period. Noncore items dominated the food and drinks available to children at a rate of 8.3 to 1 (means were 300 noncore and 36 core, respectively). The food and drinks marketed in-store were overwhelmingly noncore and promoted using accessible placement, price offers, product packaging, and signage. Most of the 70 items purchased by children were noncore foods or drinks (94.6%), and all of the purchased food or drink subsequently consumed was noncore. This research highlights convenience stores as a key source of unhealthy food and drink for children, and policies are needed to reduce the role of convenience stores in the obesogenic food environment.

scholarly journals Perceptual salience influences food choices independently of health and taste preferences

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane Dai ◽  
Jeremy Cone ◽  
Jeff Moher
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Load ◽  
Healthy Eating ◽  
Food Choice ◽  
Time Pressure ◽  
Taste Preference ◽  
Food Choices ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Perceptual Salience ◽  
Choice Tests

Abstract Background Making decisions about food is a critical part of everyday life and a principal concern for a number of public health issues. Yet, the mechanisms involved in how people decide what to eat are not yet fully understood. Here, we examined the role of visual attention in healthy eating intentions and choices. We conducted two-alternative forced choice tests of competing food stimuli that paired healthy and unhealthy foods that varied in taste preference. We manipulated their perceptual salience such that, in some cases, one food item was more perceptually salient than the other. In addition, we manipulated the cognitive load and time pressure to test the generalizability of the salience effect. Results Manipulating salience had a powerful effect on choice in all situations; even when an unhealthy but tastier food was presented as an alternative, healthy food options were selected more often when they were perceptually salient. Moreover, in a second experiment, food choices on one trial impacted food choices on subsequent trials; when a participant chose the healthy option, they were more likely to choose a healthy option again on the next trial. Furthermore, robust effects of salience on food choice were observed across situations of high cognitive load and time pressure. Conclusions These results have implications both for understanding the mechanisms of food-related decision-making and for implementing interventions that might make it easier for people to make healthy eating choices.

scholarly journals Perseverative Cognition and Snack Choice: An Online Pilot Investigation

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 33
Author(s):  
Timothy M. Eschle ◽  
Dane McCarrick
Keyword(s):  
Food Choice ◽  
Food Choices ◽  
Risk Behaviours ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Perseverative Cognition ◽  
Pilot Investigation ◽  
Perseverative Thinking ◽  
Snack Consumption ◽  
Unhealthy Snacks

Perseverative cognition (PC), consisting of worry and rumination, has been consistently linked to a variety of poorer health outcomes, namely via the worsening of stress-induced health risk behaviours. However, research into PC and unhealthy food choice, a key health behaviour, still remains relatively unexplored. In the current pilot investigation, 284 participants were recruited to take part in an online food choice paradigm before completing the Perseverative Thinking Questionnaire (PTQ) and the Brief State Rumination Inventory (BSRI). As a reduced availability of unhealthy snacks has been shown to improve snack choice, participants were randomly allocated to either an even condition (a 3:3 ratio of ≤99 kcal and ≥199 kcal snacks) or an uneven condition (a 4:2 ratio in favour of ≤99 kcal snacks). It was hypothesized that higher levels of PC may predict greater instances of poorer snack choices across, or even within, this paradigm. Despite an increase availability of lower calorie snacks leading to a healthier snack choice, both state and trait PC measures did not significantly influence snack choice irrespective of this varying availability. Although, marginal trends were found for higher state PC and higher calorie crisp selections. The current pilot therefore adds to the growing literature advocating for the use of behavioural economic tactics to engender healthier food choices, yet further work is needed to unpick the mediating role of PC (and its components) in snack consumption paradigms.

scholarly journals The role of response domain and scale label in the quantitative interpretation of patient-reported outcome measure response options

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tessa Peasgood ◽  
Jen-Yu Chang ◽  
Robina Mir ◽  
Clara Mukuria ◽  
Philip A. Powell
Keyword(s):  
First Language ◽  
Patient Reported Outcome Measures ◽  
Patient Reported Outcome ◽  
Response Options ◽  
The Public ◽  
Online Panel ◽  
Patient Reported ◽  
Common Response ◽  
Chi Squared

Abstract Purpose Uncertainties exist in how respondents interpret response options in patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs), particularly across different domains and for different scale labels. The current study assessed how respondents quantitatively interpret common response options. Methods Members of the general public were recruited to this study via an online panel, stratified by age, gender, and having English as a first language. Participants completed background questions and were randomised to answer questions on one of three domains (i.e. loneliness (negatively phrased), happiness or activities (positively phrased)). Participants were asked to provide quantitative interpretations of response options (e.g. how many times per week is equal to “often”) and to order several common response options (e.g. occasionally, sometimes) on a 0–100 slider scale. Chi-squared tests and regression analyses were used to assess whether response options were interpreted consistently across domains and respondent characteristics. Results Data from 1377 participants were analysed. There was general consistency in quantifying the number of times over the last 7 days to which each response option referred. Response options were consistently assigned a lower value in the loneliness than happiness and activities domains. Individual differences, such as age and English as a second language, explained some significant variation in responses, but less than domain. Conclusion Members of the public quantify common response options in a similar way, but their quantification is not equivalent across domains or every type of respondent. Recommendations for the use of certain scale labels over others in PROM development are provided.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document