Every time a new supermarket opens, people change their diet as well. They tend to have a feeling that they want to try anything and everything the new store can offer and this doesn't necessarily mean healthier choices.
Desserts are often thought by many to lack some nutritional value and just add to the chances of obesity. As per an article written in Time, people generally think that access to healthy food is usually difficult and not very affordable. When they can't seem to find healthy food choices, they think they can't eat it and their diet remains poor. However, the researchers aren't too sure as to whether the market changes the diet or just people's mind.
A study that was published said that the United States spent millions of dollars constructing supermarkets in food deserts since 2011. Until now, despite spending this much, the team of researchers are still unsure as to whether the supermarkets have a direct impact on the neighborhood's food choices and health. To check everything, they investigated on district in Pittsburg.
The Hill district is a low-income African American community. A new supermarket was built in the area in 2013 which is the first good one over the last 30 years. The team then compared it to another area, Homewood which doesn't have any new supermarket.
The team looked at the effects of the newly built supermarket to the people's diet, shopping habit, perceived access to healthy food, neighborhood satisfaction and body mass index (BMI). These areas were examined before the supermarket was built and then again after. They found that there were improvements in the neighborhood. The residents consumed fewer calories from sugar, fat and alcohol consumption became lower as well. Healthy food choices improved the health of the people in that area. The overall satisfaction was at 66 percent said they were satisfied or very satisfied before the supermarket was built and it became 80 percent afterwards.
The team was not able to see any noticeable change in the vegetable and fruit consumption, nor anything that can relate to obesity. In Homewoood, however, BMI, obesity and rates of overweight residents got a bit worse over the study period. Interestingly, the researchers concluded that the changes observed in diet were not related to whether the residents in the community used the store or not. The improvements among Hill District residents were similar among people who frequented the store and people who didn't.
In conclusion, building new supermarkets should continue. Planners should proceed with great caution and also check how this new establishment could impact the obesity and community eating habit and their health as well.
