Black Americans fruit and vegetable consumption increases by one third for every additional supermarket in their neighbourhood.

Many different factors influence the variety and content of people's daily diet. One of these is the convenience of shopping facilities - as a new study by scientists at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, reveals. The survey looked at black and white people in 208 US neighborhood areas.

Five times more supermarkets were located in areas where white people lived, compared to black people. In general, the more supermarkets in an area, the more likely the local population was to eat the recommended five portions of fresh fruit and vegetables. For each additional supermarket, black participants increased their consumption by 32 per cent. For white participants, the figure was 11 per cent.

It looks as if the convenience of supermarkets has a bigger impact on black Americans' diet than on whites. It is not clear why this is - maybe there is a lack of private transport in black neighborhoods, making people more dependent on locals shops. Clearly, the type and location of shopping facilities needs to be taken into account when trying to persuade people to eat a healthy diet.

Source

American Journal of Public Health November 2002