Monthly Food Spending and Consumption of Promoted Foods Among a Sample of Adults Living in Intervention Neighborhoods of the Baltimore Urban Food Distribution (BUD) Trial

OBJECTIVES: It is well documented that under-resourced residents living in Baltimore, Maryland face barriers to accessing healthy foods largely due to low availability in their neighborhoods coupled with a lack of transportation, among other factors. Previous (B'more Healthy Communities for Kids (BHCK)) and ongoing (Baltimore Urban food Distribution (BUD)) systems interventions have sought to provide multi-level solutions to challenges in the Baltimore food environment. Research suggests that food spending is related to diet, however, this study aims to better understand consumption of promoted foods across levels of food spending (low, medium, high spending) to identify points of focus and future directions for the BUD trial. METHODS: Extant data from BHCK were collected from July 2013 to July 2014 using an Adult Impact Questionnaire (AIQ) and Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ). Baseline data collection for BUD is ongoing and expected to end in April 2022. BUD data collection instruments (AIQ, FFQ) were developed based on those used for BHCK. Participants include Baltimore residents aged 21 to 75 recruited to participate in BHCK or BUD. A model-building approach will be conducted using Stata to assess consumption of promoted foods (fruits, vegetables, whole grains, etc.) across levels of monthly food spending in a merged sample. RESULTS: An initial analysis of BHCK data found that all monthly spending levels were significantly associated with lower than recommended daily fruit and vegetable intake (1.5 ± 1.1 (M ± SD) servings of fruit, 1.8 ± 1.7 servings of vegetables) regardless of demographics. We anticipate data from BUD will add to these results, further supporting the need to intervene and improve access to healthier foods for various socioeconomic groups living in Baltimore. We expect to examine similar associations across other food groups (whole grains, low-fat dairy, flavored water beverages) based on the BUD FFQ data. CONCLUSIONS: The BUD intervention aims to increase access to and incentivize the purchase of healthier foods and beverages for customers who frequent participating corner stores. The findings from this study will help to inform strategies for increasing consumer purchasing power for certain desired foods via BUD, and to provide a starting point for a future planned clinical trial. FUNDING SOURCES: NHLBI, NIH, award number R34HL145368.