FRIDAY, Oct. 5 (HealthDay News) -- Adolescents with access to chain supermarkets have a lower body mass index than those who have more access to convenience stores, according to a study published in the October issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
Lisa M. Powell, Ph.D., of the University of Illinois at Chicago, and colleagues looked at data on adolescent body mass index in a group of students average age 14.7 years, and their access to four types of grocery stores: chain supermarkets, non-chain supermarkets, convenience stores and other grocery stores.
In areas with a chain supermarket, adolescents had a lower body mass index, and in areas where there was a greater availability of convenience stores there was higher incidence of being overweight and higher body mass index. The differential was most pronounced among black students versus white or Hispanic students and among adolescents whose mothers worked full-time.
"Taken together, these results suggest that food store availability may be most important for African-American adolescents and those with mothers who work full-time, particularly if the youth is at risk of overweight," the authors conclude. "Economic and urban planning land use policies which increase the availability of chain supermarkets may have beneficial effects on youths' weight outcomes."
Abstract
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