PHILADELPHIA—The easy availability of low-nutrition snacks may contribute to childhood obesity in minority and low-income communities, according to a new study published in Pediatrics.
Researchers conducted more than 800 interviews on children in grades 4 through 6, from 10 urban elementary schools in which half or more of the students receive free or reduced-price meals. They found the most frequently purchased items were high-calorie, low-nutrition foods such as chips, candy and sugar-sweetened beverages.
The study, “Snacking in Children: The Role of Urban Corner Stores,” was supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation through its national program Healthy Eating Research. This study is part of a larger national effort, the Healthy Corner Store Initiative, to help store owners in Philadelphia, Baltimore and Oakland, Calif., stock fresh fruit and other healthy snacks.
More than 53 percent of students reported shopping at corner stores once daily, five days per week; almost 29 percent of the students surveyed shopped at corner stores both before and after school, five days per week. On average, children spent a little more than $1 to purchase 356 calories of snack food and/or drinks during each visit.
Because corner stores are often prevalent in lower-income communities where children are at the highest risk for childhood obesity, researchers stress the opportunity these stores offer to increase the availability of healthy food in communities.
“Promoting items like water, single-serving snacks and fresh fruits are small changes that could yield a significant impact on the quantity and quality of children’s food intake,” said Sandy Sherman, EdD, director of nutrition education at The Food Trust.