Evaluating Healthy Food Retail in Low-Income Urban

Neighbourhoods

L.M. Minaker, C. L. Mah, B.E. CookMay 29, 2014

CPHA 2014

Background• Food environments

are (probably) important for health

• Healthy food retail interventions may hold promise for improving diet

http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/nutrition/pol/som-ex-sum-environ-eng.php

Over 500 measures exist!

Intervention

Study design

O X OO O

O OO

Individual-level Assessment

ASA24Food

Insecurity

Food Purchasing

Food environment perceptions

Socio-demographic

Food preferences

& skills

Store-level Assessment

Neighbourhood-level Assessment

Promotoras

Additional Observations

• Qualitative Observations– Focus groups– Interviews with

stakeholders

Conclusions

• Population health intervention research is fairly new

• Interdisciplinary approaches are crucial for understanding the unanticipated outcomes and diverse impacts

• It’s time to move beyond assessment in public health

Acknowledgements

• Dr. Catherine Mah• Dr. Brian Cook

The Propel Centre for Population Health Impact was founded by the Canadian Cancer Society and the

University of Waterloo.