The Pacific Retail Food Store Environment: Findings from the Children's Healthy Living Program

Abstract

A community's retail food environment (RFE) is an important determinant of health. Healthy food, including fruits/vegetables [F/V], availability, quality, and promotions may influence food choices. This study's purpose was to describe the RFE of 154 stores in 4 jurisdictions from 2012-2014 participating in the Children's Healthy Living (CHL) Program. The CX3 Food Availability and Marketing Survey, a standardized RFE assessment survey, was adapted for the Pacific. About half of the stores (47%) were small markets (SM), 27% convenience stores (CS), 17% supermarket chains (SC), 6% large grocery stores (LG), and 3% of other type. SM was dominant in CNMI (69%) and Guam (75%) compared to SC in Alaska (46%). In Hawaii, the majority were CS (35%) and SM (28%). Among all stores, the majority had unhealthy foods (61%) and promotions for unhealthy foods (93%) present near check-out. The majority (60%) had unhealthy food ads with less than 20% with healthy food ads. Few stores (29%) had health promotion items around the F/V display, or items promoting locally grown produce. Using the CX3 standardized RFE scoring criteria; 32% of stores surveyed met CX3 standards for F variety and quality, 42% met for V variety and quality, and 43% met for other healthy food availability. Significant jurisdiction differences (p<.001) were observed in the percentage of stores meeting CX3 standards on F only, with Alaska (49%) and Hawaii (50%) higher than CNMI (22%) and Guam (11%). Many of the stores surveyed did not meet CX3 RFE standards and present an F/V intervention opportunity. USDA AFRI # 2011-68001-30335