Often accused of being too far away, supermarkets are not totally responsible for bad eating behavior. Indeed, their establishment does not change the habits.
One supermarket per district does not improve the diet of its inhabitants. American researchers have analyzed the consequences of setting up a supermarket in a “food desert” in New York (United States). The results, published in Public Health Nutrition, show that eating behaviors have not changed, and neither has childhood obesity.
Always so many prepared foods
In the inner city of the Bronx, New York, some areas are labeled as “food deserts.” There is no supermarket there of sufficient size to offer a wide range of foods. Convenience stores and fast food outlets are thriving. The Morrisania district has benefited from a government program, which subsidizes the installation of supermarkets. A team from the Langone Medical Center at New York University decided to assess the impact of this implantation on residents’ eating behaviors.
Researchers conducted 2,172 street surveys before the inauguration, of which 363 were followed up twice after the supermarket opened (5 weeks, 1 year). The results show that no major difference occurred in the district of Morrisania compared to that of neighboring Highbridge, where no big box opened.
“The reported availability of fruits and vegetables has not been affected by the new supermarket,” the researchers point out, even as snacks and other delicacies have become less available. Respondents don’t mention more healthy foods in their cupboards. Children’s habits have not changed: so many still bring home prepared foods (51% before, 46% after)… but bought them at the supermarket instead of the grocery store.
An often high price
“Neighborhoods with ethnic minorities and low-income households are underserved by supermarkets compared to their higher-income peers; it would seem logical that increasing the availability of healthy foods would improve the diet, ”said Dr. Brian Elbel, who conducted the study. Indeed, several studies accuse the lack of availability of fruits and vegetables to be the cause of obesity. But in the short term, setting up a large area seems to have little effect.
In fact, more than accessibility to fruits and vegetables, it is their cost that seems to hold back disadvantaged people. An American study has established a weak but strong link between the price of these foods and childhood obesity. Other work, conducted in the UK this time, has pointed out that healthy eating costs three times as much as junk food. If bringing fruits and vegetables closer to disadvantaged neighborhoods is a first step, making their price more reasonable should be the second.
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