Grocery Store (or Supermarket) Tours as an Effective Nutrition Education Medium: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Grocery store tours are increasingly used as an avenue for nutrition education to improve knowledge and/or alter food selection behaviors and may result in positive outcomes, but it is unknown whether these outcomes persist for longer than 3 months after the tour and whether there are common attributes of effective grocery store tours. More rigorous studies with uniform methodology in study design and outcome measures are needed to confirm the effectiveness of supermarket tours.

Qualitative exploration of the experiences of renal dietitians and how they help patients with end stage kidney disease to understand the renal diet

“…67 Further studies on the usefulness of improved printed patient education materials (such as diet sheets) and supermarket tours should also be undertaken. 68,69 There are several limitations to this research. Firstly, it is possible that renal dietitians not included in this study may offer differing perspectives to those described.…”

“…Alternative educational approaches could include the use of question prompt lists; reducing the cognitive burden; using dialogue boards; or conversation maps and increasing the actionability of renal diet patient education resources . Further studies on the usefulness of improved printed patient education materials (such as diet sheets) and supermarket tours should also be undertaken …”

Nutrition literacy predicts adherence to healthy/unhealthy diet patterns in adults with a nutrition-related chronic condition

“…Unfortunately, in the absence of measured change in nutrition literacy, strong conclusions cannot be made regarding the effectiveness of nutrition education. Indeed, while mixed-approach supermarket-based intervention strategies have shown some success, using validated tools to evaluate improvements in nutrition literacy and behaviour in the analysis of outcomes is critical for identifying intervention methods that contribute to desired outcomes ( 54 ) . Regardless, our data demonstrate that including nutrition literacy among factors targeted for improving diet patterns and diet quality is warranted in future interventions.…”

Dietetics and Nutrition Students Response to Grocery Store Tour Training Program

“…Overall, there is very little research on the impact of grocery store tours on consumer behavior related to produce intake. A systematic review of literature by Nikolaus, Muzaffar, & Nickols -Richardson (2016) found that out of 8 articles on grocery stores meeting selection criteria, there was evidence of short term knowledge and behavior changes (<3 mo), but no indication of longer term outcomes. Additionally, there was little consensus on what elements are common among tours (Nikolaus, Muzaffar, & Nickols-Richardson, 2016).…”

“…A systematic review of literature by Nikolaus, Muzaffar, & Nickols -Richardson (2016) found that out of 8 articles on grocery stores meeting selection criteria, there was evidence of short term knowledge and behavior changes (<3 mo), but no indication of longer term outcomes. Additionally, there was little consensus on what elements are common among tours (Nikolaus, Muzaffar, & Nickols-Richardson, 2016). Other studies have also provided evidence of short term intake changes, and intention to increase variety of foods consumed especially produce (Milliron, Woolf, & Appelhans, 2012;Thompson et al, 2015), low fat dairy and whole grains (Crawford & Kalina, 1993).…”