The Impact of Healthy Food Marketing Strategies In Supermarkets

描述(申请人提供)：随着肥胖率的增加，公共卫生专家越来越关注形成暴饮暴食和不健康食物选择的环境。零售杂货店处于影响选择和有利影响能源平衡的关键位置。更多的健康食品，如果转化为促进健康的购买，可以对肥胖风险最大的人群--低收入少数民族--的饮食质量产生积极影响。本研究的目的是：1.在整群随机对照试验设计中，评估店内健康食品营销策略对销售的影响 和购买六种产品类别(牛奶、冷冻主食、饮料结账冷藏器、面包、咸味零食和奶酪)中更健康的商品；以及2.评估超市食品营销环境的变化与同一六种产品类别中特定健康食品的销售变化的关系；以及3.研究社区特征与六种产品类别中更健康商品的销售和购买变化之间的关系。我们假设，目标产品的销售额将显著上升，更注重健康的食品营销环境将与健康食品的更高销售额相关。这项研究将在大西洋中部和东北部地区城市、低收入、少数族裔居民区的32家超市进行。干预策略将包括最佳位置、提高更健康产品的可见度、呼唤标志和牛奶品尝测试。控制商店将仅限评估。连锁超市将帮助实施这些战略，并提供目标产品的销售数据。干预措施将进行两年，重点是可伸缩性和长期可持续性。采购的主要结果衡量标准将是每种产品每家门店的每周销售额。个人购买将通过访谈和购物收据在购物者队列中进行评估。杂货营销环境评估(GMEA)工具将用于评估营销环境。研究小组完成了对八家超市为期6个月的干预的随机试点研究，该研究展示了干预对三种食品类别的影响。拟议的研究将对新的和广泛适用的战略提供一个扩大和延伸的、更大规模的严格测试，以鼓励健康的零售销售，补充更多的机会倡议，并减少肥胖和相关疾病的健康差距。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): As the prevalence of obesity has increased, public health experts have increasingly focused on the environments that shape overeating and unhealthy food choices. Retail grocery stores are pivotally positioned to influence choices and favorably affect energy balance. Greater availability of healthier foods, if translated to health-promoting purchases, can positively affect diet quality among those at greatest risk for obesity- low-income, ethnic minorities. The aims of the proposed study are: 1. To evaluate, in a cluster randomized controlled trial design, effects of in-store healthy food marketing strategies on sales and purchase of healthier items in six product categories (milk, frozen entrees, beverage checkout coolers, bread, salty snacks and cheese); and 2. To evaluate the association of changes in supermarket food marketing environments with changes in sales of specific healthier food items in the same six product categories; and 3. To examine the relationships between neighborhood characteristics and changes in sales and purchases of healthier items in the six product categories. We hypothesize that sales of targeted products will be significantly higher, and that more health- focused food marketing environments will be associated with higher sales of healthy food items. The study will be conducted in 32 supermarkets in urban, low-income, high-minority neighbor- hoods in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions. Intervention strategies will include prime placement, increased visibility of healthier products, call-out signs, and taste-testing for milk. Control stores will be assessment-only. Supermarket chains will help implement the strategies and provide data on sales of targeted products. Interventions will be conducted for 2 years, with an emphasis on scalability and long-term sustainability. The primary outcome measures of purchasing will be weekly sales per store for each product. Individual purchasing will be assessed in a cohort of shoppers by interviews and shopping receipts. The Grocery Marketing Environment Assessment (GMEA) tool will be used to assess marketing environments. The research team completed a randomized pilot study of a 6-month intervention in eight supermarkets, which demonstrated the impact of the interventions on three food categories. The proposed study will provide an expanded and extended, larger-scale, rigorous test of novel and widely applicable strategies to encourage healthy retail sales, complement increased- access initiatives, and reduce health disparities in obesity and related diseases.