A Mobile Application to Improve Procurement and Distribution of Healthful Foods & Beverages in Low Income Urban Communities

改善健康食品采购和分销的移动应用程序

• 批准号: 9979225
• 负责人: Joel Gittelsohn
• 金额: $ 24.56万
• 依托单位: JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-07-01 至 2023-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9979225
• 关键词: Baltimore; Behavior; Beverages; Chronic Disease; Cities; Clinical Trials; Collaborations; Communities; Consumption; Cost efficiency; Cost-Benefit Analysis; Costs and Benefits; Data; Development; Diet; Dietary Fiber; Evaluation; Farming environment; Fatty acid glycerol esters; Financial cost; Food; Food Policy; Future; Goals; Health; Health Food; Improve Access; Intervention; Intervention Trial; Letters; Low income; Measures; Modeling; National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; Neighborhoods; Nutritional; Obesity; Online Systems; Perception; Pilot Projects; Prevention program; Price; Process; Protocols documentation; Randomized Controlled Trials; Research; Restaurants; Sales; Sample Size; Sampling; Source; System; Testing; Time; Travel; United States; Work; base; cost; digital; food environment; fruits and vegetables; improved; instrument; mobile application; post intervention; recruit; satisfaction; successful intervention; sugar; trial design; urban setting

The overarching goal of this application is to develop and pilot test a web-based application (app) that will increase access to healthier foods and beverages in low-income urban communities in the United States. Small retail food stores are ubiquitous in low-income urban settings throughout the US and present a unique opportunity to supply surrounding neighborhoods with healthful food options. However, these small stores usually carry few or no foods that are both healthy and affordable. A primary barrier to stocking healthy, affordable foods in small urban food stores is the lack of an adequate distribution network; small store owners generally need to travel on their own to obtain healthy foods and beverages for their stores. Low access to healthy food and high access to food with low nutritional value have been associated with poor diet quality, obesity and chronic disease in many studies. Our research team has worked for more than 16 years in Baltimore to develop, implement, and evaluate chronic disease prevention programs by improving the food environment in low-income communities. Our preliminary formative research assessed the initial acceptability of a mobile app that will enable small urban food store owners to access a range of healthy foods from local wholesalers and producers, and facilitate affordable delivery to their stores. We found high acceptability for an app that would leverage the collective purchasing power of digitally-networked small food stores and introduce cost efficiencies into food delivery. For this NHLBI Clinical Trial Pilot Study (R34), we propose to develop a working web-based Baltimore Urban food Distribution (BUD) app, pilot the app, and evaluate its feasibility and impact on the availability, prices and distribution of healthful foods and beverages in East Baltimore, with the following primary aims: 1) To develop and optimize a technically stable and functional digital strategy to overcome small retail food system constraints common in low-income urban food settings; 2) To pilot the BUD app with Baltimore-based producers/wholesalers and corner stores, and assess its feasibility (i.e., acceptability, operability, perceived sustainability, user satisfaction); and 3) To evaluate the impact of the BUD app on corner store stocking (availability, timeliness, quality), prices, and sales of healthy and unhealthy foods and beverages in a pilot study employing a randomized controlled trial design of 38 corner stores. Secondary aims will examine impact on consumers and a cost-benefit analysis for participating retailers and producers. Findings will permit us to 1) produce a functional and acceptable web-based app, 2) provide preliminary data needed for power calculations for the full-scale trial, 3) generate and refine process evaluation instruments and set standards for implementation, and 4) establish protocols and demonstrate our ability to recruit and retain large numbers of wholesalers, producers, corner stores and consumers. We will assess generalizability of the app by conducting feasibility assessments of the developed app with small store owners and suppliers in other urban settings. The findings from this R34 application are essential to support a full-scale clinical trial, which will test a multi-city deployment of the BUD app and assess its impact on obesity and diet.

此应用程序的总体目标是开发和试点测试基于Web的应用程序（APP） 增加美国低收入城市社区的健康食品和饮料的机会。 小型零售食品商店在整个美国的低收入城市环境中无处不在，并提出了独特的 有机会为周围社区提供健康的食物选择。但是，这些小商店 通常携带很少或没有健康且负担得起的食物。库存健康的主要障碍， 小城市食品商店的负担得起的食品缺乏足够的分销网络。小商店所有者 通常需要独自旅行，以获取其商店的健康食品和饮料。低访问权限 健康的食物和较低营养价值的食物的高接入与饮食质量差有关， 在许多研究中，肥胖和慢性病。 我们的研究团队在巴尔的摩工作了16多年，以开发，实施和评估 通过改善低收入社区的食品环境，预防慢性疾病预防计划。我们的 初步形成研究评估了移动应用程序的最初可接受性，该应用将使小城市能够 食品商店的所有者可以从当地批发商和生产者那里获得一系列健康食品，并促进 负担得起的商店。我们发现可以利用集体的应用程序可接受性 采购数字网络的小食品商店的能力，并将成本效率引入食品交付。为了 这项NHLBI临床试验试验研究（R34），我们建议开发基于网络的巴尔的摩 城市食品分销（BUD）应用程序，试行该应用程序，并评估其可行性和对 东巴尔的摩的健康食品和饮料的可用性，价格和分配，以下 主要目的：1）开发和优化技术稳定且功能性的数字策略以克服小型 零售食品系统的约束在低收入城市食品环境中常见； 2）用 基于巴尔的摩的生产者/批发商和角落商店，并评估其可行性（即可接受性， 可操作性，可持续性，用户满意度）； 3）评估芽应用程序对角落的影响 商店库存（可用性，及时性，质量），健康和不健康食品的价格以及销售 在一项试点研究中，采用了38个角落商店的随机对照试验设计。次要目标将 检查对参与零售商和生产商的对消费者的影响和成本效益分析。 调查结果将允许我们到1）产生功能和可接受的基于网络的应用程序，2）提供初步数据 全尺度试验所需的电源计算所需，3）生成和完善过程评估工具和 设定实施标准，4）建立协议并证明我们招募和保留的能力 大量批发商，生产商，角落商店和消费者。我们将评估 通过与其他小型商店所有者和其他供应商对开发应用程序进行可行性评估的应用程序 城市环境。该R34应用程序的发现对于支持全面临床试验至关重要 将测试Bud应用程序的多城市部署，并评估其对肥胖和饮食的影响。