Food shopping behaviors in a multiethnic urban population: Implications for measurement and obesity prevention

Background. Several studies have focused on understanding relationships between the neighborhood food environment and dietary intake, yet few have examined shopping behaviors. We examined patterns of and multilevel influences on food shopping behaviors in 919 urban African-American, Latino, and White adults.

Methods. We drew on data from the 2000 census, food store mapping, and a community survey conducted by the Healthy Environments Partnership. Multilevel regression was used to estimate relationships between neighborhood-level (e.g., percent poor, percent African-American, food store availability) and individual-level (e.g., SES) characteristics and food shopping behaviors: type of and street-network distance traveled to the primary food store.

Results. Preliminary analyses show 58%, 36%, and 6% used an independent grocery store, supermarket/supercenter, and limited assortment store as their primary store, respectively. Higher income, living in a neighborhood with proportionately more African-Americans, and closer distance to a supermarket/supercenter were associated with a greater likelihood of shopping at a supermarket/supercenter than an independent grocery store/limited assortment store. Participants traveled, on average, 3.3 miles to their primary food store, with 28%, 48%, and 75% shopping within one, two, and five miles, respectively. Being a woman, higher education, and car ownership were associated with longer travel distances. Neighborhood availability of a large independent grocery store was associated with shorter travel distances.

Conclusions. In urban neighborhoods without a supermarket/supercenter, individual resources and grocery store availability were associated with food shopping behaviors. We will identify implications for measurement of food environments in future research and for interventions to prevent obesity and related chronic diseases.