Journal
HEALTH AFFAIRS
Volume 33, Issue 2, Pages 283-291Publisher
PROJECT HOPE
DOI: 10.1377/hlthaff.2013.0512
Keywords
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Funding
- National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) [R21-ES014211]
- Population Research Institute
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development [R25-HD41025]
- UK National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Senior Fellowship
- National Institute for Health Research [SRF-2010-03-05] Funding Source: researchfish
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National and local policies to improve diet in low-income US populations include increasing physical access to grocery stores and supermarkets in underserved neighborhoods. In a pilot study that evaluated the impacts of opening a new supermarket in a Philadelphia community considered a food desert-part of the Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative-we found that the intervention moderately improved residents' perceptions of food accessibility. However, it did not lead to changes in reported fruit and vegetable intake or body mass index. The effectiveness of interventions to improve physical access to food and reduce obesity by encouraging supermarkets to locate in underserved areas therefore remains unclear. Nevertheless, the present findings suggest that simply improving a community's retail food infrastructure may not produce desired changes in food purchasing and consumption patterns. Complementary policy changes and interventions may be needed to help consumers bridge the gap between perception and action. The replication of our findings in other settings and research into the factors that influence community residents' receptivity to improved food access are urgently required.
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