Abstract

IntroductionEach year, millions of people purchase food at highway rest areas. Rest areas are potential sites for health promotion because they are operated by the public sector; they are frequently visited by professional truck drivers, who have a disproportionate burden of chronic disease; and they are easily accessible. To our knowledge, no research has systematically examined the healthfulness of food offerings at rest areas. The objective of this study was to determine the accessibility and healthfulness of food and beverages offered at highway rest areas in North Carolina using a mixed-methods audit and geospatial approach.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional audit of all rest areas offering foods and beverages in North Carolina (N = 30) in summer 2018. We used the Nutrition Environment Measures Survey–Vending (NEMS–V) to record the 1) type, price, and size of all foods and beverages and 2) healthfulness of items offered (based on NEMS–V categorization). Two researchers independently double coded NEMS–V data. We used geospatial analysis to examine proximity of rest areas to food stores. We analyzed data by using univariate and bivariate analysis.ResultsThe mean number of vending machines per site was 8.0 (range, 2–12, standard deviation, 2.8). The healthfulness of offerings varied across sites. Most food items (88.1%; 2,922 of 3,315) and beverage items (63.7%; 1,567 of 2,459) were classified as least healthful. Cold beverage machines had a greater percentage of healthful items (38.2%; 778 of 2,036) than snack machines (11.4%; 374 of 3,270) (P < .001), mainly because of water and diet soda in beverage machines.ConclusionPolicy changes are needed to increase the number and presentation of healthful food options at highway rest areas. Policy changes could provide travelers with more healthful options conveniently located along their travel route.

Highlights

  • Each year, millions of people purchase food at highway rest areas

  • Rest areas are potential sites for health promotion because they are operated by the public sector; they are frequently visited by professional truck drivers, who have a disproportionate burden of chronic disease; and they are accessible

  • The objective of this study was to determine the accessibility and healthfulness of food and beverages offered at highway rest areas in North Carolina using a mixedmethods audit and geospatial approach

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Summary

Introduction

Rest areas are potential sites for health promotion because they are operated by the public sector; they are frequently visited by professional truck drivers, who have a disproportionate burden of chronic disease; and they are accessible. The objective of this study was to determine the accessibility and healthfulness of food and beverages offered at highway rest areas in North Carolina using a mixedmethods audit and geospatial approach. Drivers, long-distance truck drivers, who have a disproportionate burden of chronic disease, are a strategic target for encouraging healthful food consumption [5,6]. One commonly used source of convenient food purchases, among truckers, is highway rest areas. These sites receive little attention in food environment research, even though each year millions of people in the United States purchase snacks and beverages at these rest areas (24 million people per year in North Carolina alone) [8]

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