A Best Practice Guide for Conducting Healthy Food Retail Research: A Resource for Researchers and Health Promotion Practitioners

Retail food environments play a pivotal role in influencing dietary behaviors, and therefore have huge potential as settings for promoting good nutrition and preventing obesity. Conducting research in retail settings can be challenging due to the varied motivations of the parties involved and the complex nature of retail environments. To improve the quality and consistency of research in this field, we have identified 16 thematic topics aimed at guiding researchers and public health practitioners on how to conduct healthy food retail research. A summary for each topic, encompassing existing methodologies, best practice examples, and knowledge gaps, was developed based on available literature and the collective experience and expertise of 32 multidisciplinary researchers from a high-income perspective engaged in healthy food retail research in a diverse range of retail settings. A summary checklist describing key considerations at each stage of conducting healthy food retail research was also developed.