Supermarkets: A New Solution to the Obesity Epidemic
Image courtesy of SBS World News
By Tess Rempel
Obesity has nearly tripled worldwide since 1975, with 2.8 million people dying each year as a result. According to a recent study from the University of Southampton, changing the environment of grocery stores may be part of the solution.
The trial, as published in June of 2021, collaborated with British supermarket chain “Iceland Foods” to collect data via supermarket loyalty cards of 150 women between the ages of 18 and 45. This data was collected to investigate whether or not layouts of grocery stores, a marketing technique known as product placement, affect customers’ choices. The study attempted placing produce closer to entrances, as well as removing confectionery – food items rich in sugar and carbohydrates – from checkouts.
“…a healthier store layout could lead to nearly 10,000 extra portions of fruit and vegetables and approximately 1,500 fewer portions of confectionery being sold on a weekly basis in each store,” said Public Health Nutrition scientist and study lead Dr. Christian Vogel.
Trends for dietary variables also benefited subjects’ health in the long-term, improving dietary quality with daily fruit and vegetable intake for at least three months.
“Oftentimes small changes in supermarkets…can result in significant shifts in what shoppers buy, often without the shopper even realizing it,” said University of Delaware Professor of Behavioral Health and Nutrition, Allison Karpyn. “And while the results might seem modest, if you multiply impacts across communities, the potential to improve public health is large.”
In addition to making healthier food choices, the study’s economic analysis revealed that neither costs of weekly household groceries nor weekly store sales faced significant consequences. This analysis was conducted to both assess how nutrition disproportionately relates to socioeconomic status and predict how likely retailers are to intervene. The study concluded, however, that further economic evaluation is needed to inform policy action.
“We know that childhood obesity is a growing issue and the retail industry has its part to play in tackling this,” Matt Downes, Head of Format Development at Iceland Foods, said.
In the UK, initiating these changes is especially important to legislation, as the government recently imposed a ban on daytime TV advertisements for foods high in sugar, salt and fat. According to the study, its results may “assist UK policy makers appropriately frame the proposed ban, as well as help guide future government intervention to improve diet across the world.”
Tom Carper, U.S. Senator for Delaware, introduced a bill to expand Medicare coverage of intense behavioral therapy for obesity in March of 2021. In a world that is increasingly overweight and obese, society is asking for legislation to address their needs, but also reexamining how culture affects the population’s relationship with food, from movies, to social media, and even to the grocery store.
In reading the study, one could consider that consumers are not to blame – rather, it is a governmental duty to reverse the marketing tactics that have long affected people’s diet quality around the world. The stimulus for a healthy lifestyle may not lie in fad diets or a higher income; it may start with redefining the food environment that has created a chaotic relation between product and consumer.
