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Indicators of the relative availability of healthy versus unhealthy foods in supermarkets: a validation study

BACKGROUND: In-store availability of healthy and unhealthy foods may influence consumer purchases. Methods used to measure food availability, however, vary widely. A simple, valid, and reliable indicator to collect comparable data on in-store food availability is needed. METHODS: Cumulative linear s...

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Autores principales: Vandevijvere, Stefanie, Mackenzie, Tara, Mhurchu, Cliona Ni
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BioMed Central 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5405544/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28441947
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12966-017-0512-0
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author Vandevijvere, Stefanie
Mackenzie, Tara
Mhurchu, Cliona Ni
author_facet Vandevijvere, Stefanie
Mackenzie, Tara
Mhurchu, Cliona Ni
author_sort Vandevijvere, Stefanie
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: In-store availability of healthy and unhealthy foods may influence consumer purchases. Methods used to measure food availability, however, vary widely. A simple, valid, and reliable indicator to collect comparable data on in-store food availability is needed. METHODS: Cumulative linear shelf length of and variety within 22 healthy and 28 unhealthy food groups, determined based on a comparison of three nutrient profiling systems, were measured in 15 New Zealand supermarkets. Inter-rater reliability was tested in one supermarket by a second researcher. The construct validity of five simple indicators of relative availability of healthy versus unhealthy foods was assessed against this ‘gold standard’. RESULTS: Cumulative linear shelf length was a more sensitive and feasible measure of food availability than variety. Four out of five shelf length ratio indicators were significantly associated with the gold standard (ρ = 0.70–0.75). Based on a non-significant difference from the ‘gold standard’ (d = 0.053 ± 0.040) and feasibility, the ratio of cumulative linear shelf length of fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables versus soft and energy drinks, crisps and snacks, sweet biscuits and confectionery performed best for use in New Zealand supermarkets. CONCLUSIONS: Four out of the five shelf length ratio indicators of the relative availability of healthy versus unhealthy foods in-store tested could be used for future research and monitoring, but additional validation studies in other settings and countries are recommended. Consistent use of those shelf length ratio indicators could enhance comparability of supermarket food availability between studies, and help inform policies to create healthy consumer food retail environments. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12966-017-0512-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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spelling pubmed-54055442017-04-27 Indicators of the relative availability of healthy versus unhealthy foods in supermarkets: a validation study Vandevijvere, Stefanie Mackenzie, Tara Mhurchu, Cliona Ni Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act Research BACKGROUND: In-store availability of healthy and unhealthy foods may influence consumer purchases. Methods used to measure food availability, however, vary widely. A simple, valid, and reliable indicator to collect comparable data on in-store food availability is needed. METHODS: Cumulative linear shelf length of and variety within 22 healthy and 28 unhealthy food groups, determined based on a comparison of three nutrient profiling systems, were measured in 15 New Zealand supermarkets. Inter-rater reliability was tested in one supermarket by a second researcher. The construct validity of five simple indicators of relative availability of healthy versus unhealthy foods was assessed against this ‘gold standard’. RESULTS: Cumulative linear shelf length was a more sensitive and feasible measure of food availability than variety. Four out of five shelf length ratio indicators were significantly associated with the gold standard (ρ = 0.70–0.75). Based on a non-significant difference from the ‘gold standard’ (d = 0.053 ± 0.040) and feasibility, the ratio of cumulative linear shelf length of fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables versus soft and energy drinks, crisps and snacks, sweet biscuits and confectionery performed best for use in New Zealand supermarkets. CONCLUSIONS: Four out of the five shelf length ratio indicators of the relative availability of healthy versus unhealthy foods in-store tested could be used for future research and monitoring, but additional validation studies in other settings and countries are recommended. Consistent use of those shelf length ratio indicators could enhance comparability of supermarket food availability between studies, and help inform policies to create healthy consumer food retail environments. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12966-017-0512-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. BioMed Central 2017-04-26 /pmc/articles/PMC5405544/ /pubmed/28441947 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12966-017-0512-0 Text en © The Author(s). 2017 Open AccessThis article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
spellingShingle Research
Vandevijvere, Stefanie
Mackenzie, Tara
Mhurchu, Cliona Ni
Indicators of the relative availability of healthy versus unhealthy foods in supermarkets: a validation study
title Indicators of the relative availability of healthy versus unhealthy foods in supermarkets: a validation study
title_full Indicators of the relative availability of healthy versus unhealthy foods in supermarkets: a validation study
title_fullStr Indicators of the relative availability of healthy versus unhealthy foods in supermarkets: a validation study
title_full_unstemmed Indicators of the relative availability of healthy versus unhealthy foods in supermarkets: a validation study
title_short Indicators of the relative availability of healthy versus unhealthy foods in supermarkets: a validation study
title_sort indicators of the relative availability of healthy versus unhealthy foods in supermarkets: a validation study
topic Research
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5405544/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28441947
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12966-017-0512-0
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