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Access to Healthy Foods Is Not Enough to Change Consumer Behavior

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In many low-income and rural communities across the United States, access to stores that sell healthy foods—fruits and vegetables, whole grain-rich foods and low-fat dairy products—is limited. These communities tend to have fewer grocery stores and more small food retailers such as convenience stores that primarily sell highly processed, high-calorie and low-nutrient beverages and foods. 

This shortage of nutritious food sources is detrimental to the health of the community members, contributing to conditions such as obesity and diabetes. For example, children living in low-income neighborhoods are 20 to 60 percent more likely to be obese or overweight than children living in high socioeconomic status neighborhoods and healthier overall environments. 

But it turns out that lack of access is only part of the story. In fact, how the food is presented and marketed to consumers plays a significant role in the purchasing and consumption of healthy foods.

Expert Panel Addresses Healthy Food Inventory and Consumer Decision-making

These topics are addressed in a report released last month by Healthy Eating Research, a national program funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. In the report, a panel of experts issued recommendations on stocking and marketing healthy foods in small retail food stores such as convenience stores and gas stations. Mary Story, theme leader for Bass Connections in Global Health as well as professor of community and family medicine and global health, and Megan Lott, associate in research at the Duke Global Health Institute (DGHI), convened the panel.

The report is aimed at helping local, state and federal efforts to improve the healthfulness of food and beverages sold in small retail food stores and may be used to inform policies for stores participating in ongoing federal nutrition programs.  

“Many low-income and communities of color as well as rural areas in the United States are food deserts,” said Story. “We need to increase access to affordable, nutritious, high-quality healthy foods in order to reduce health disparities, and this report provides some concrete strategies to help point us in the right direction.”

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