267483 Examining the Relationship Between Car Ownership, Grocery Shopping Frequency and Dietary Adequacy among New Orleans residents

Monday, October 29, 2012

Jeanette Gustat, PhD , Department of Epidemiology; Prevention Research Center, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, LA
Brian Luckett, PhD, MPH , Prevention Research Center, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, ME
Keelia O'Malley, MPH , Prevention Research Center, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, LA
Janet Rice, PhD , Department of Biostatics and Bioinformatics, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, LA
Background: Much recent literature has focused on food access, specifically geographic proximity to supermarkets, and individual consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables. Fresh produce consumption by persons living with low access to fresh food should therefore depend on the availability of transportation for grocery shopping. This study parses the association between car ownership, grocery shopping frequency, and self-reported consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables in a city with documented food access issues. Methods: A randomly sampled, address-based telephone survey of 3,000 households in Orleans Parish, Louisiana was conducted with the household's main grocery shopper in June and July of 2011. Linear structural equation modeling was used to develop models of car ownership, frequency of shopping and consumption of produce. Results: Demographic characteristics of surveyed individuals were predictive of car ownership, the frequency of grocery shopping and daily servings of fresh produce. Car ownership was predictive of grocery shopping frequency and grocery shopping frequency was predictive of daily servings of fresh produce. However, after controlling for demographics and frequency of shopping, car ownership became not significant (p>0.05). Conclusion: Models of food access test the hypothesis that the distance an individual must travel to reach a supermarket affects that individual's dietary adequacy. Our results indicate that car ownership affects shopping practices but not necessarily produce consumption.

Learning Areas:
Diversity and culture
Other professions or practice related to public health
Public health or related research
Social and behavioral sciences
Systems thinking models (conceptual and theoretical models), applications related to public health

Learning Objectives:
1. Describe the socio-demographic characteristics of household grocery shoppers in New Orleans 2. Describe the relationships between demographic characteristics and each of the outcomes: car ownership, frequency of shopping and produce consumption. 3. Assess the validity of a hypothesized framework explaining produce consumption.

Keywords: Access, Food and Nutrition

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am the principal investigator on the project and lead investigator for the Prevention Research Center funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. My interests include environmental determinants of physical activity and obesity and I have been working in the New Orleans community for about a decade.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

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