LOCAL FOOD PERCEPTIONS AND SHOPPING BEHAVIORS IN RURAL NORTH CAROLINA: A NOVEL, RETAIL-BASED APPROACH FOR PROMOTING HEALTH?

The prevalence of obesity and chronic disease remains high in the United States despite decades of public health research aiming to improve dietary quality. People of lower socioeconomic status (SES) and residents of rural areas are particularly at risk. The food environment is a key mediator of diet-related health disparities. There is evidence associating local food purchasing with healthier eating behaviors. However, little is known about whether lower-SES and rural consumers have positive associations with local food and would preferentially buy it in the grocery store context or whether local food purchases might ultimately increase diet quality and fruit and vegetable intake. The purpose of the present study was to (1) characterize perceptions of locally grown food and self-reported barriers and facilitators to purchasing it among frequent shoppers of three rural grocery stores; (2) design and implement multiple small-scale, store-based interventions aimed at increasing local food purchasing in grocery stores serving lower-income, rural consumers; and (3) measure the individual- and organizational-level effectiveness of local food purchasing intervention strategies. We partnered with three grocery stores located in rural, lower-SES communities in North Carolina. A formative, qualitative study was conducted through in-depth interviews with frequent shoppers (n=22) of the three stores, followed by the development and testing of two distinct local-food-based intervention strategies. In-store consumer intercept surveys (n=67), store observations (n=7), and post-intervention interviews with store managers (n=2) and participating farmers (n=2) provided insights into program implementation and maintenance. We found positive attitudes toward locally produced food among participants. Supporting local farmers and their community’s economy were primary motivators, though perceived price was cited as a common barrier. We developed two store-based interventions designed to increase local food purchasing informed by: (1) constructs that emerged from formative work (awareness of local food availability) and reported values around local food purchasing (reciprocity with farmers in the community), and (2) constructs from the behavioral (social proof) and marketing (cross-selling) bodies of literature. Intervention components included signs, recipe cards, stickers, and a consolidated local produce display. Interventions lasted for the duration of the local produce sourcing season (Store B = 8 wks; Store C = 6 wks). One of three participating stores (Store A) was ultimately unable to source local produce for the intervention phase of the study. Store B implemented intervention materials with high fidelity; Store C implemented the intervention with moderate and diminishing fidelity. Few shoppers reported noticing the intervention signage in either store, but 88% of respondents reported a preference for local foods, and 70% reported a desire to purchase local food on their next shopping trip. Prices for local and nonlocal produce items were kept equal, thus eliminating the most commonly cited perceived barrier to purchasing. Managers at both stores reported intending to continue sourcing local produce beyond the study period, despite the increased work required to do so. Findings from this study indicate that promotion of local food is acceptable to both participants and retailers in rural, lower-SES communities. However, further work is required to identify the effectiveness of different marketing approaches and the impact on quality of food purchasing.Doctor of Philosoph

Children’s and adolescents’ rising animal-source food intakes in 1990–2018 were impacted by age, region, parental education and urbanicity

Animal-source foods (ASF) provide nutrition for children and adolescents’ physical and cognitive development. Here, we use data from the Global Dietary Database and Bayesian hierarchical models to quantify global, regional and national ASF intakes between 1990 and 2018 by age group across 185 countries, representing 93% of the world’s child population. Mean ASF intake was 1.9 servings per day, representing 16% of children consuming at least three daily servings. Intake was similar between boys and girls, but higher among urban children with educated parents. Consumption varied by age from 0.6 at <1 year to 2.5 servings per day at 15–19 years. Between 1990 and 2018, mean ASF intake increased by 0.5 servings per week, with increases in all regions except sub-Saharan Africa. In 2018, total ASF consumption was highest in Russia, Brazil, Mexico and Turkey, and lowest in Uganda, India, Kenya and Bangladesh. These findings can inform policy to address malnutrition through targeted ASF consumption programmes.publishedVersio

Incident type 2 diabetes attributable to suboptimal diet in 184 countries

The global burden of diet-attributable type 2 diabetes (T2D) is not well established. This risk assessment model estimated T2D incidence among adults attributable to direct and body weight-mediated effects of 11 dietary factors in 184 countries in 1990 and 2018. In 2018, suboptimal intake of these dietary factors was estimated to be attributable to 14.1 million (95% uncertainty interval (UI), 13.8–14.4 million) incident T2D cases, representing 70.3% (68.8–71.8%) of new cases globally. Largest T2D burdens were attributable to insufficient whole-grain intake (26.1% (25.0–27.1%)), excess refined rice and wheat intake (24.6% (22.3–27.2%)) and excess processed meat intake (20.3% (18.3–23.5%)). Across regions, highest proportional burdens were in central and eastern Europe and central Asia (85.6% (83.4–87.7%)) and Latin America and the Caribbean (81.8% (80.1–83.4%)); and lowest proportional burdens were in South Asia (55.4% (52.1–60.7%)). Proportions of diet-attributable T2D were generally larger in men than in women and were inversely correlated with age. Diet-attributable T2D was generally larger among urban versus rural residents and higher versus lower educated individuals, except in high-income countries, central and eastern Europe and central Asia, where burdens were larger in rural residents and in lower educated individuals. Compared with 1990, global diet-attributable T2D increased by 2.6 absolute percentage points (8.6 million more cases) in 2018, with variation in these trends by world region and dietary factor. These findings inform nutritional priorities and clinical and public health planning to improve dietary quality and reduce T2D globally.publishedVersio

Incident type 2 diabetes attributable to suboptimal diet in 184 countries

The global burden of diet-attributable type 2 diabetes (T2D) is not well established. This risk assessment model estimated T2D incidence among adults attributable to direct and body weight-mediated effects of 11 dietary factors in 184 countries in 1990 and 2018. In 2018, suboptimal intake of these dietary factors was estimated to be attributable to 14.1 million (95% uncertainty interval (UI), 13.8–14.4 million) incident T2D cases, representing 70.3% (68.8–71.8%) of new cases globally. Largest T2D burdens were attributable to insufficient whole-grain intake (26.1% (25.0–27.1%)), excess refined rice and wheat intake (24.6% (22.3–27.2%)) and excess processed meat intake (20.3% (18.3–23.5%)). Across regions, highest proportional burdens were in central and eastern Europe and central Asia (85.6% (83.4–87.7%)) and Latin America and the Caribbean (81.8% (80.1–83.4%)); and lowest proportional burdens were in South Asia (55.4% (52.1–60.7%)). Proportions of diet-attributable T2D were generally larger in men than in women and were inversely correlated with age. Diet-attributable T2D was generally larger among urban versus rural residents and higher versus lower educated individuals, except in high-income countries, central and eastern Europe and central Asia, where burdens were larger in rural residents and in lower educated individuals. Compared with 1990, global diet-attributable T2D increased by 2.6 absolute percentage points (8.6 million more cases) in 2018, with variation in these trends by world region and dietary factor. These findings inform nutritional priorities and clinical and public health planning to improve dietary quality and reduce T2D globally

Dietary Fiber, Magnesium, and Glycemic Load Alter Risk of Type 2 Diabetes in a Multiethnic Cohort in Hawaii12

The influence of dietary fiber, magnesium (Mg), and glycemic load (GL) on diabetes was examined in the Hawaii component of the Multiethnic Cohort. The 75,512 Caucasian, Japanese American, and Native Hawaiian participants aged 45–75 y at baseline completed a FFQ. After 14 y of follow-up, 8587 incident diabetes cases were identified through self-reports and health plans. We applied Cox regression stratified for age at cohort entry and adjusted for ethnicity, BMI, physical activity, education, and total energy with further stratifications by sex and ethnicity. When comparing extreme quintiles, total fiber intake was associated with reduced diabetes risk among all men [hazard ratio (HR): 0.75; 95% CI: 0.67, 0.84; P-trend < 0.001) and women (HR: 0.95; 95% CI: 0.85, 1.06; P-trend = 0.05). High intake of grain fiber reduced diabetes risk significantly by 10% in men and women. High vegetable fiber intake lowered risk by 22% in all men but not women. Mg intake reduced risk (HR = 0.77 and 0.84 for men and women, respectively) and, due to its strong correlation with fiber (r = 0.83; P < 0.001), may explain the protective effect of fiber. The top GL quintile was associated with a significantly elevated diabetes incidence in Caucasian men and in all women except Japanese Americans. Overall, several associations were more pronounced in Caucasians than in the other groups. These findings suggest that protection against diabetes can be achieved through food choices after taking into account body weight, but, due to differences in commonly consumed foods, risk estimates may differ by ethnic group

Children’s and adolescents’ rising animal-source food intakes in 1990–2018 were impacted by age, region, parental education and urbanicity

Animal-source foods (ASF) provide nutrition for children and adolescents’ physical and cognitive development. Here, we use data from the Global Dietary Database and Bayesian hierarchical models to quantify global, regional and national ASF intakes between 1990 and 2018 by age group across 185 countries, representing 93% of the world’s child population. Mean ASF intake was 1.9 servings per day, representing 16% of children consuming at least three daily servings. Intake was similar between boys and girls, but higher among urban children with educated parents. Consumption varied by age from 0.6 at <1 year to 2.5 servings per day at 15–19 years. Between 1990 and 2018, mean ASF intake increased by 0.5 servings per week, with increases in all regions except sub-Saharan Africa. In 2018, total ASF consumption was highest in Russia, Brazil, Mexico and Turkey, and lowest in Uganda, India, Kenya and Bangladesh. These findings can inform policy to address malnutrition through targeted ASF consumption programmes.This study was supported by grants from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (OPP1176681; PI D.M.) and from the American Heart Association (20POST35200069; PI V.M.)

Author Correction: Global dietary quality in 185 countries from 1990 to 2018 show wide differences by nation, age, education, and urbanicity (Nature Food, (2022), 3, 9, (694-702), 10.1038/s43016-022-00594-9)

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