Objective: This study compared the prices of unhealthy (chips) and healthy (ready-to-eat fruit) snacks that students are likely to purchase from corner stores.
Methods: Snacks were purchased from 325 New Jersey corner stores; chip prices were compared with fruit prices overall and by store sales volume and block group characteristics.
Results: Prices did not differ significantly between chips and fruit in the overall sample in which both items were available (n = 104) (chips: $0.46 ± $0.15; fruit: $0.49 ± $0.19; P = .48) or by store or block group characteristics. Neither mean fruit prices nor mean chip prices differed by store sales volume or by neighborhood characteristics.
Conclusions and implications: Promoting ready-to-eat fruits in corner stores to children as a price-neutral alternative to calorically dense snacks can be a viable strategy to improve the nutritional quality of snacks commonly purchased at corner stores.
Details
- Cost of Children's Healthy vs Unhealthy Snacks Does Not Differ at Convenience Stores
- DeWeese, Robin (Author)
- Ohri-Vachaspati, Punam (Author)
- child
- convenience stores
- food costs
- snacks
- Digital object identifier: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneb.2016.11.006