Healthy Bodegas: Increasing and Promoting Healthy Foods at Corner Stores in New York City

Overview

Journal Am J Public Health

Specialty Public Health

Date 2012 Aug 18

PMID 22897534

Citations 66

Authors

Rachel Dannefer

Donya A Williams

Sabrina Baronberg

Lynn Silver

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Objectives: We assessed the effectiveness of an initiative to increase the stock and promotion of healthy foods in 55 corner stores in underserved neighborhoods.

Methods: We evaluated the intervention through in-store observations and preintervention and postintervention surveys of all 55 store owners as well as surveys with customers at a subset of stores.

Results: We observed an average of 4 changes on a 15-point criteria scale. The most common were placing refrigerated water at eye level, stocking canned fruit with no sugar added, offering a healthy sandwich, and identifying healthier items. Forty-six (84%) store owners completed both surveys. Owners reported increased sales of healthier items, but identified barriers including consumer demand and lack of space and refrigeration. The percentage of customers surveyed who purchased items for which we promoted a healthier option (low-sodium canned goods, low-fat milk, whole-grain bread, healthier snacks and sandwiches) increased from 5% to 16%.

Conclusions: Corner stores are important vehicles for access to healthy foods. The approach described here achieved improvements in participating corner stores and in some consumer purchases and may be a useful model for other locales.

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