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FYI Research: |
Stopping by the grocery store on the way home tonight? A new study finds that Americans who live near supermarkets tend to eat more fruits and vegetables than those who don't have a supermarket close by. The study, from Carolina's School of Public Health, found that black Americans ate 32 percent more fruits and vegetables for each additional supermarket in their neighborhoods. White Americans ate about 11 percent more fruits and vegetables when they lived near one or more supermarkets. Kimberly Morland, now of the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, led the study as part of her doctoral dissertation research at Carolina. Morland and her co-authors examined data gathered by another study based at Carolina: the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) investigation, which is a large, long-term study of arterial hardening. ARIC has detailed information on the dietary habits of thousands of study participants, who live in 208 different U.S. neighborhoods ranging from Maryland and Minnesota to Mississippi and Forsyth County. The researchers looked at the types and amounts of food eaten by study subjects, as well as the availability of supermarkets, grocery stores and restaurants in the subjects' neighborhoods. They found that around 31 percent of white study participants lived in a neighborhood with at least one supermarket, while only eight percent of black participants had a grocery store near by. "On average, the more supermarkets there were in a given area, the more likely residents were to meet dietary recommendations for fruits and vegetables," Morland says. "We don't know why we saw a larger influence of supermarkets on the diets of black Americans compared to white Americans," she says. "Based on our previous research showing a lack of private transportation in predominantly black neighborhoods, we suspect that white Americans may have a larger geographic area in which to select places to patronize." Steven Wing says the study might promote an environmental understanding of nutrition. "In some ways, we in public health have tended to blame the victim," says Wing, associate professor of epidemiology. Wing was Morland's adviser during her studies at Carolina. "This work shows that if you don't live in an area where it's possible to have easy access to reasonably priced, nutritious foods, then it's not your fault that you're not eating as healthfully as people in other areas," Wing says. The study's co-authors include Wing and Ana Diez Roux of Columbia University. Other projects from the School of Public Health * Soy protein enriched with isoflavones appears to have no effect on bone mineral content and bone mineral density in young women, according to a study lead by John J.B. Anderson, professor of nutrition. Isoflavones are chemicals made by plants. Previous studies have suggested that they might be good substitutes for the hormone estrogen because they seemed to produce positive effects in bone without the negative impacts that estrogens are believed to have on reproductive organs in some women undergoing menopause. * Another School of Public Health study suggests that women who take multivitamins during pregnancy can cut their children's risk of the childhood nervous system cancer neuroblastoma by 30 percent to 40 percent. It is not yet clear which vitamin or vitamins are most responsible for the reduced risk. |