Can supermarkets coax people into buying healthier food?
Date:
March 24, 2022
Source:
PLOS
Summary:
Restricting supermarket placement of less healthy items and
increasing the availability of healthier alternatives in these
stores may be promising interventions to encourage healthier
purchasing behaviors, according to two new studies.
FULL STORY ========================================================================== Restricting supermarket placement of less healthy items and increasing the availability of healthier alternatives in these stores may be promising interventions to encourage healthier purchasing behaviors. Those are
the conclusions of two new studies publishing March 24 in PLOSMedicine
by Carmen Piernas and colleagues of University of Oxford, UK.
========================================================================== Dietary targets for saturated fat, dietary fiber, sugar, and salt intake
are currently not being met in the UK. Poor diets are an important risk
factor for chronic diseases, and many socioeconomic inequalities remain
when it comes to diet. Evidence from systematic reviews has suggested
that grocery store interventions may be effective at changing diet,
but evidence in real supermarkets has been lacking.
In the first new study, the researchers evaluated six interventions
involving the availability, placement, promotions, and signage of
healthier products within three major chains of UK grocery stores. They
found that increasing the availability of healthier options within
a category was associated with significant changes in purchasing. For
instance, stocking low-fat chips next to regular chips decreased the sales
of regular chips (-23% in intervention stores vs. -4% in control stores, p=0.001). Stocking more lower calorie biscuits increased sales by 18%
and decreased purchases of regular, higher calorie biscuits by 4%.
In the second study, Piernas and colleagues evaluated a grocery store intervention to remove seasonal chocolates and candy from prominent
locations within a major UK supermarket in the 7 weeks leading up to
Easter. In 34 intervention stores, free-standing promotional displays
of seasonal chocolate confectionery products were removed, although the
candies were available elsewhere in the store. The researchers found
an attenuation in the usual seasonal increase in confectionery sales;
units of confectionery sales increased by 18% in the control stores
during the pre-Easter period but only 5% in the intervention stores
(p<0.001). The absolute difference in confectionery sales between control
and intervention stores was approximately 21 kilograms per store per week, which translated in fewer total calories in customers baskets.
Together, the papers offer new evidence on how legislation can help shape consumers' diets with the goal of improving health. "This research has important implications for the development of policies by retailers or governments to bring dietary intakes closer to recommendations for good health," the authors write. "Strategies aiming at informing customers
about healthier options are unlikely to work in isolation." Regarding the first study, Piernas adds, "The Government in England has announced new legislation to restrict promotions of foods high in sugars, salt and
saturated fat (HFSS) in prominent locations. This project established a partnership with a large UK food retailer to evaluate an intervention
to remove seasonal chocolate confectionery from prominent areas of
the store, specifically end-of-aisles and entrance areas, over 7 weeks
before the Easter period. These results from a 'real world' intervention provide promising evidence that the proposed legislation in England to
restrict promotions of less healthy items in prominent locations may
help reduce over-consumption." Regarding the second study, Piernas
adds, "In this multi-retailer partnership, we conducted an independent evaluation of six in-store interventions within three major UK food
retailers aimed at improving food purchasing behaviours. We reported
that some choice architecture interventions implemented within stores,
such as availability and promotions, were associated with short-term
changes in food purchasing behaviours. However, the effect of promotions
on consumer behaviour may diminish with time and are less likely to be sustainable for retailers over longer time periods."
========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by PLOS. Note: Content may be edited
for style and length.
========================================================================== Journal References:
1. Carmen Piernas, Georgina Harmer, Susan A. Jebb. Removing seasonal
confectionery from prominent store locations and purchasing
behaviour within a major UK supermarket: Evaluation of a
nonrandomised controlled intervention study. PLOS Medicine, 2022;
19 (3): e1003951 DOI: 10.1371/ journal.pmed.1003951
2. Carmen Piernas, Georgina Harmer, Susan A. Jebb. Testing
availability,
positioning, promotions, and signage of healthier food options and
purchasing behaviour within major UK supermarkets: Evaluation of
6 nonrandomised controlled intervention studies. PLOS Medicine,
2022; 19 (3): e1003952 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1003952 ==========================================================================
Link to news story:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/03/220324143758.htm
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