Association of supermarket availability, accessibility and utilization with dietary intake

Abstract

We aimed to evaluate whether supermarket availability and accessibility is associated with dietary intake using validated food retail locations and information about utilization of the food environment. We interviewed 876 household food shoppers in South Carolina assessing diet with the 17‐item NCI screener. Supermarket/grocery store (SUP/GS) locations were verified. Availability, accessibility measures, and distance to utilized store were assessed relative to home address. Only 16% of respondents had a SUP/GS in their neighborhood. Respondents drove 9 miles to shop for food (median 7.8), 3.8 in urban and 10.6 miles in non‐urban areas. The closest SUP/GS was on average 5.7 miles away (median 5; urban 2, non‐urban 6.8 miles). No associations were observed between availability of SUP/GS and fruit and vegetable (F&V) (p=0.48), fiber (p=0.66), or percent fat intake (p= 0.24), adjusted for demographics, socio‐economics, rurality. Similarly, none of the measures of accessibility were associated with diet. However, distance to utilized store was significantly inversely associated with F&V (p=0.02), but not with fat or fiber. While our study does not support previous findings on the impact of SUP/GS availability and accessibility on diet, it does suggest that spatial attributes of actual food shopping behavior may contribute to dietary intake. Funded by National Cancer Institute R21CA132133 & R21CA132133‐02S1