Phase I Obesity is a growing and increasingly serious public health problem that disproportionately affects low-income communities of color. Low-income areas and communities of color tend to have less access to grocery stores and other retail stores that sell healthy foods than higher- income, predominantly Caucasian neighborhoods. These inequities in access to healthy foods may contribute to the increase in obesity rates and pervasive health disparities among low- income communities of color. Reversing obesity trends will require a range of interventions, including a systematic approach to improving food retail environments. Critical to evaluating efforts to improve food retail environments are measures designed to assess small neighborhood stores. Samuels &Associates (S&A) proposes to test the feasibility of developing a web-based software tool, the Store Analysis and Monitoring System (SAMS), which can be use to efficiently assess small store food environments and determine an overall health score for stores based on the quantity and nutritional quality of food and beverage items observed. The long term goal of this project is to enable public health departments, researchers and consumers to use cell phones to accurately and efficiently inventory products in stores, determine health scores and make improvements to store environments. The ability to assess and monitor stores will provide data on the factors that influence eating behaviors and may ultimately help to drive significant improvements in the availability of nutritious foods in stores across the United States.
Public Health Relevance: This proposal will support the development of an innovative data collection and analysis software tool, the Store Analysis and Monitoring System (SAMS). The system will be used to inventory foods and beverages in stores and to determine an overall health score for stores based on the quantity and nutritional quality of items observed. Accurate data on store environments and the factors within the stores that encourage or discourage healthy eating behaviors can serve to increase access to healthy foods in under-served communities, influence eating behaviors, and contribute to the prevention of obesity.
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