142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

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Promoting healthy food options among Latinos: Challenges and opportunities of a corner store intervention

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Wednesday, November 19, 2014 : 12:50 PM - 1:10 PM

Melissa Tibbits, PhD , Health Promotion, Social & Behavioral Health, University of Nebraska Medical Center - College of Public Health, Omaha, NE
Marnie Bothmer, MPH , University of Nebraska Medical Center - College of Public Health, Omaha, NE
Hongmei Wang, PhD , Health Services Research and Administration, College of Public Health, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE
Athena Ramos, MS, MBA, CPM , Center for Reducing Health Disparities, College of Public Health, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE
Antonia Correa, MA , Center for Reducing Health Disparities, College of Public Health, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE
Sarah Schram, MS, RD , Douglas County Health Department, Omaha, NE
Mary Balluff, MS, RD , Douglas County Health Department, Omaha, NE
Audio (mp3) recording Recorded Presentation (mp4)
Background: Corner stores serve as an important source of food for many Latinos in urban communities. Research on corner stores, however, suggests the availability of healthy food (e.g., fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy, and lean proteins) often is limited. The Douglas County Putting Prevention to Work Healthy Neighborhood Store (HNS) initiative in Omaha, Nebraska was designed to increase access to healthy foods in corner stores. The initiative included financial support for supplies such as coolers and signage, technical assistance (e.g., nutrition information and marketing strategies), and cooking demonstrations using healthy foods. This study focuses on the shopping habits of customers within four Latino-serving urban corner stores.

Methods: Intercept surveys were conducted with 209 HNS patrons (73% Latino; 53% female).  

Results: Nearly 80% of customers visited the HNS at least once per week and 30% visited the HNS every day. On average, customers spent approximately $15 on the last corner store purchase. The most popular healthy items were fresh vegetables (purchased by 32%), fresh fruit (22%) and whole grain items (14%). Very few participants purchased lean proteins (7%), canned/frozen fruits and vegetables (3%), or low-fat milk (2%).

Conclusions:  Most participants did not purchase the healthy food items targeted by the intervention. Given the growing popularity of corner store interventions, additional research is needed to better understand the food and shopping preferences of Latinos to better target corner store interventions. Further, sales and customer requests should be monitored to adjust strategies on an ongoing basis to meet customer needs.

Learning Areas:

Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs

Learning Objectives:
Describe the role of corner stores in improving access to healthy foods among Latinos. Identity factors critical to the success of corner store interventions.

Keyword(s): Nutrition, Minority Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have served on the evaluation team for the Healthy Neighborhood Stores project since 2010. I have extensive evaluation training and expertise.
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.

Back to: 5190.0: Population Approaches to Healthy Eating and Dietary Behavior Change