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Table 5 The association between food environment and dietary intake in studies using other measures (food prices and store audits) to capture food environment exposure

From: The community and consumer food environment and children’s diet: a systematic review

Author (Year)

Sample size (n)

Specific exposure reported

FF outcome

Results

Powell et al. [36]

47,675

FV and FF prices from Cost of Living Index

Daily FV consumption

- A dollar increase in the price of FF is statistically significantly associated with a reduction in frequent consumption of FV by 6.7 percentage points (p<0.001).

- A dollar increase in the price of FV is estimated to decrease FV consumption by 6.3 percentage points (z = 2.05).

Khan et al. [29]

11,700

FF prices from the Cost of Living Index and food outlet density

FF consumption in the past 7 days

- Higher FF prices were associated with lower childhood FF consumption (beta = −0.527, p<0.05). - FF restaurant outlet densities were significantly associated with FF consumption patterns (beta = 0.025, p<0.05).

Sturm & Datar [39]

4896

Price indices for meat, FV, dairy and FF calculated from Cost of Living Index

Consumption of FV, milk, soft drinks and FF in the past 7 days

- Lower real prices for FV predict higher intake frequency (a 1SD increase in the price index for FV is associated with a 0.82 times per week reduction in the frequency of consumption of FV), higher dairy prices predict lower milk consumption (a 1 SD increase in dairy prices predicts a reduction in milk consumption of two-thirds of a glass per week), and increased meat price predicts increased milk consumption.

- The effects on FF and SSB are small and generally insignificant.

Edmonds et al. [22]

90

FV, 100% juice availability and shelf space in food stores and restaurants around home

FV (including fried potatoes), juice and consumption per day

Significant positive correlations were found between restaurant juice (r = 0.61, p < 0.05) and vegetable availability (r = 0.53, p = 0.10) and Boy Scouts’ reported consumption of juice and vegetables, - but no relationships were detected with grocery store availability.

Longacre et al. [33]

1,547

Availability of FF outlets (onsite audit)

FF intake in past week

Adolescent who lived in towns with > = 5 FF outlets were about 30% more likely to eat FF compared to those in town with no FF outlets (RR = 1.29, 95% CI 1.10 - 1.51).

Leung et al. [32]

215

“Food and retail” scale - Food outlet audit on random street segments within 0.25 mile of home

Total energy intake

Inverse relationship between prevalence of food and retail locations and total energy intake (for a one quartile increase, OR=0.84, 95% CI 0.74-0.96).