Effects of price discounts and tailored nutrition education on supermarket purchases: a randomized controlled trial

Mhurchú, Cliona Ní; Blakely, Tony; Jiang, Yannan; Eyles, Helen; Rodgers, Anthony

doi:10.3945/ajcn.2009.28742

Cited by 214 publications

(336 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…A 6-month intervention among women enrolling for WIC (US Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children), using targeted vouchers for fruit and vegetables, resulted in an increase in fruit and vegetable consumption (10) . The NZ SHOP study found that discounts on healthier food resulted in an increase in purchasing of these foods although it did not show a decrease in purchasing of 'less healthy' food (9) . The complexity of food purchasing decisions was demonstrated by Inglis et al in their hypothetical experiment in which women were presented with a scenario where they had 25 % more of their food budget to spend (29) .…”

Section: Fig 1 Participant Flow Through the Study And Known Reasons mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Food is often purchased at the household level and changes to the economic resources of a household will potentially impact on food purchasing decisions. Electronic sales data have been used in previous NZ research to track *Corresponding author: Email claire.smith@otago.ac.nz r The Authors 2012 changes in expenditure at the household level (9) . Food shopping receipts have also been used in Canada and the USA to give an overview of the food purchasing habits of different socio-economic groups (12)(13)(14) and to estimate expenditure on foods consumed outside the home (12) .…”

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confidence: 99%

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Providing additional money to food-insecure households and its effect on food expenditure: a randomized controlled trial

Smith

Parnell

Brown

et al. 2012

Public Health Nutr.

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Objectives: Financial constraint is the underpinning determinant of household food insecurity; however, there has been little research examining the impact that increasing the 'money available' to food-insecure households could have on food purchasing. The main objective of the present study was to examine the effect of additional money (in the form of supermarket vouchers) on food expenditure in food-insecure households with children. Design: A parallel randomized controlled trial with a 4-week baseline phase followed by a 4-week intervention phase. Households were randomized to either receive vouchers (coupons) for 4 weeks or a control group that did not receive any vouchers. Setting: Dunedin, New Zealand. Subjects: Low-income households with children (#18 years) reporting food insecurity (n 214). Conclusions: Providing money via supermarket vouchers to food-insecure households resulted in an increase in overall expenditure on food.

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Section: Fig 1 Participant Flow Through the Study And Known Reasons mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Providing additional money to food-insecure households and its effect on food expenditure: a randomized controlled trial

Smith

Parnell

Brown

et al. 2012

Public Health Nutr.

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“…Nonetheless, strong evidence for supermarket interventions, particularly those that provide nutrition education only at point of purchase, is somewhat lacking (8) , although interventions with a price intervention show more promise (13,45,46) . Nutrition education alone may not be adequate to drive real and sustained change to the household food supply.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These data have potential to provide detailed, objective and prospective information about the household food supply (11) . Food purchase data have been used to estimate individual nutrient intakes (6) , to describe food category purchases of different households (12) and to measure the impact of nutrition interventions (13,14) .Shopping docket data could also be used to initiate and support efforts to improve the household food supply, providing shoppers with information about the healthiness of their purchases over time. However, a key issue is translating these 'big data' into a meaningful metric, which can potentially influence purchase behaviour.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Feasibility of a Healthy Trolley Index to assess dietary quality of the household food supply

et al. 2015

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Supermarket receipts have the potential to provide prospective, objective information about the household food supply. The aim of this study was to develop an index to estimate population diet quality using food purchase data. Supermarket receipt data of 1 month were available for 836 adults from a corporate office of a large retail chain. Participants were aged 19-65 years (mean 37·6 (SD 9·3) years), 56 % were female and 63 % were overweight or obese. A scoring system (Healthy Trolley Index (HETI)) was developed to compare food expenditure with the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating. Monthly expenditure per food group, as a proportion of total food expenditure, was compared with food group recommendations, and a HETI score was calculated to estimate overall compliance with guidelines. Participants spent the greatest proportion on discretionary foods, which are high in fat/sugar (34·8 %), followed by meat including beef and chicken (17·0 %), fresh and frozen vegetables (13·5 %) and dairy foods (11·3 %). The average HETI score ranged from 22·6 to 93·1 (out of 100, mean 58·8 (SD 10·9)). There was a stepwise decrease in expenditure on discretionary foods by increasing HETI quintile, whereas expenditure on fruit and vegetables increased with HETI quintile (P < 0·001). The HETI score was lower in obese compared with normal-weight participants (55·9 v. 60·3; P < 0·01). Obese participants spent more on discretionary foods (38·3 v. 32·7 %; P < 0·01) and less on fruits and vegetables (19·3 v. 22·2 %; P < 0·01). The HETI may be a useful tool to describe supermarket purchasing patterns and quality of the household food supply with application for consumer feedback to assist improved quality of foods purchased.Key words: Diet quality: Supermarkets: Food supply Poor eating habits are one of the key drivers of overconsumption of energy, weight gain and obesity. Australians consume inadequate amounts of fruit, vegetables and whole grains and, on average, get about 35 % of their energy from energy-dense, nutrient-poor discretionary food and beverage items (1,2) . As a result, improving the food supply to support healthy food choices has been identified as a priority for Australian health promotion efforts and internationally (3,4) .About 60 % of Australian food retail expenditure is in the supermarket, indicating its potential as a key setting to influence the food supply (5) . Previously, supermarket purchases have been found to relate to dietary intakes, particularly at the household level (6,7) . For example, when compared with 4 d of weighed food record data, 1 month of shopping purchase information produced reasonable estimates about energy and fat intake (7) . Many nutrition interventions promoting the purchase of healthier foods have been trialled in the supermarket setting. Although the evidence is equivocal for the effectiveness of supermarket interventions focused on point-of-purchase dietary education and information provision (8,9) , the potential for success using an innovative approach in this setting has ...

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Effects of Subsidies and Prohibitions on Nutrition in a Food Benefit Program

et al. 2016

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IMPORTANCEStrategies to improve the nutritional status of those participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) are of interest to policymakers. OBJECTIVE To evaluate whether the proposed policy of incentivizing the purchase of fruits and vegetables and prohibiting the purchase of less nutritious foods in a food benefit program improves the nutritional quality of participants' diets.DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS Lower income participants (n = 279) not currently enrolled in SNAP were randomized to 1 of 4 experimental financial food benefit conditions: (1) incentive (30% financial incentive for fruits and vegetables purchased using food benefits);(2) restriction (not allowed to buy sugar sweetened beverages, sweet baked goods, or candies with food benefits); (3) incentive plus restriction (30% financial incentive on fruits and vegetables and restriction of purchase of sugar sweetened beverages, sweet baked goods, or candy with food benefits); or (4) control (no incentive or restrictions on foods purchased with food benefits). Participants in all conditions were given a study-specific debit card where funds were added every 4 weeks for a 12-week period. Outcome measures were collected at baseline and in the final 4 weeks of the experimental period. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURESPrimary outcomes (from 24-hour dietary recalls) included intake of energy, discretionary calories, and overall diet quality. RESULTSA number of favorable changes were observed in the incentive plus restriction condition that were significantly different from changes in the control condition. These included (1) reduced intake of energy (−96 kcal/d, standard error [SE], 59.9); (2) reduced intake of discretionary calories (−64 kcal/d, SE 26.3); (3) reduced intake of sugar sweetened beverages, sweet baked goods, and candies (−0.6 servings/d, SE 0.2); (4) increased intake of solid fruit (0.2 servings/d, SE 0.1); and (5) improved Healthy Eating Index score (4.1 points, SE 1.4). Fewer improvements were observed in the incentive only and restriction only arms. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCEA food benefit program that pairs incentives for purchasing more fruits and vegetables with restrictions on the purchase of less nutritious foods may reduce energy intake and improve the nutritional quality of the diet of participants compared with a program that does not include incentives or restrictions.CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT02643576

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Effects of price discounts and tailored nutrition education on supermarket purchases: a randomized controlled trial

Abstract: Neither price discounts nor tailored nutrition education had a significant effect on nutrients purchased. However, the significant and sustained effect of discounts on food purchases suggests that pricing strategies hold promise as a means to improve population diets.

Cited by 214 publications

References 33 publications

Providing additional money to food-insecure households and its effect on food expenditure: a randomized controlled trial

Providing additional money to food-insecure households and its effect on food expenditure: a randomized controlled trial

Feasibility of a Healthy Trolley Index to assess dietary quality of the household food supply

Effects of Subsidies and Prohibitions on Nutrition in a Food Benefit Program

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