Your supermarket may affect your weight

Your supermarket may affect your weight, according to a report published Apr. 4 in the open access journal PLoS ONE.

The study, conducted in Paris from 2007 to 2008, found that participants who shop at discount supermarkets, in supermarkets in areas with poorly educated consumers, or in supermarkets far from their own neighborhood had higher body mass indices (BMI) and waste circumferences. As Basile Chaix indicates, "shopping at discount supermarkets was more strongly associated with higher body weight and abdominal fat among low educated than among high educated participants."

Supermarket size and produce quality, on the other hand, were not correlated with either BMI or waist circumference.

Previous work of this type has largely focused on general neighborhood characteristics instead of specific personal behavior, but the current study, which included 7,131 participants, revealed that only 11.4% shopped for food primarily in their residential neighborhood. This result emphasizes the importance of evaluating people personal food environments.

The authors, led by Basile Chaix of INSERM in France, conclude that supermarkets may be a useful site for public health interventions to change food purchasing behavior.

Citation: Chaix B, Bean K, Daniel M, Zenk SN, Kestens Y, et al. (2012) Associations of Supermarket Characteristics with Weight Status and Body Fat: A Multilevel Analysis of Individuals within Supermarkets (RECORD Study). PLoS ONE 7(4): e32908. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0032908

Financial Disclosure: This work, as part of the RECORD project, was supported by the Institute for Public Health Research (Institut de Recherche en Sante´ Publique); the National Institute for Prevention and Health Education (Institut National de Pre´vention et d'Education pour la Sante´ ) (Prevention Program 2007 074/07-DAS; 2010 financial support; and 2011 financial support); the National Institute of Public Health Surveillance (Institut de Veille Sanitaire) (Territory and Health Program); the French Ministries of Research and Health (Epidemiologic Cohorts Grant 2008); the National Health Insurance Office for Salaried Workers (Caisse Nationale d'Assurance Maladie des Travailleurs Salarie´ s); the National Research Agency (Agence Nationale de la Recherche) (Health–Environment Program 2005 #00153 05); the Ile-de-France Regional Health Agency (Agence Re´gionale de Sante´ d'Iˆle-de-France); the City of Paris (Ville de Paris); the Ile-de-France Regional Council (Conseil Re´gional d'Iˆle-de-France, DIM SEnT and CODDIM); and the Ile-de-France Youth, Sports, and Social Cohesion Regional Direction (Direction Re´gionale de la Jeunesse et des Sports et de la Cohe´sion Sociale). The project was also supported by the Swedish Research Council (to JM), by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (to YK), and by ANR-PNRA (to JMO). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Competing Interest Statement: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

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