Large scale food retailing as an intervention for diet and health: quasi-experimental evaluation of a natural experiment
Open accessAbstract
Objectives: To assess the effect on fruit and vegetable consumption, self reported, and psychological health of a “natural experiment”—the introduction of large scale food retailing in a deprived Scottish community. Design: Prospective quasi-experimental design comparing baseline and follow up data in an “intervention” community with a matched “comparison” community in Glasgow, UK. Participants: 412 men and women aged 16 or over for whom follow up data on fruit and vegetable consumption and GHQ-12 were available. Main outcome measures: Fruit and vegetable consumption in portions per day, poor self reported health, and poor psychological health (GHQ-12). Main results: Adjusting for age, sex, educational attainment, and employment status there was no population impact on daily fruit and vegetable consumption, self reported, and psychological health. There was some evidence for a net reduction in the prevalence of poor psychological health for residents who directly engaged with the intervention. Conclusions: Government policy has advocated using large scale food retailing as a social intervention to improve diet and health in poor communities. In contrast with a previous uncontrolled study this study did not find evidence for a net intervention effect on fruit and vegetable consumption, although there was evidence for an improvement in psychological health for those who directly engaged with the intervention. Although definitive conclusions about the effect of large scale retailing on diet and health in deprived communities cannot be drawn from non-randomised controlled study designs, evaluations of the impacts of natural experiments may offer the best opportunity to generate evidence about the health impacts of retail interventions in poor communities.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In the United Kingdom, randomized controlled studies on placement of supermarkets in low-income food deserts altered where shopping was done but did not affect food purchasing patterns.
“In the United Kingdom, for example, randomized controlled studies on placement of supermarkets in low-income food deserts altered where shopping was done but did not affect food purchasing patterns.325,326”
From Population Approaches to Improve Diet, Physical Activity, and Smoking Habits: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association (2012) · cites this paper as [326]
Cites
“Food deserts”—evidence and assumption in health policy making
Cummins, S., & Macintyre, S. (2002) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.325.7361.436 · Cited by 558 · see citing works
Self-citationDeprivation, Diet, and Food-Retail Access: Findings from the Leeds ‘Food Deserts' Study
Wrigley, N., Warm, D. L., & Margetts, B. (2003) · Environment and Planning A Economy and Space · doi:10.1068/a35150 · Cited by 446 · see citing works
Natural experiments: an underused tool for public health?
Petticrew, M., Cummins, S., Ferrell, C., Findlay, A., Higgins, C., Hoy, C., Kearns, A., & Sparks, L. (2005) · Public Health · doi:10.1016/j.puhe.2004.11.008 · Cited by 318 · see citing works
Self-citationNeighbourhood differences in diet: the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study.
Diez-Roux, A. V., Nieto, F. J., Caulfield, L., Tyroler, H. A., Watson, R. L., & Szklo, M. (1999) · Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health · doi:10.1136/jech.53.1.55 · Cited by 314 · see citing works
Assessing the Impact of Improved Retail Access on Diet in a 'Food Desert': A Preliminary Report
Wrigley, N., Warm, D. L., Margetts, B., & Whelan, A. (2002) · Urban Studies · doi:10.1080/0042098022000011362 · Cited by 265 · see citing works
the REACH Coalition of the African American Building a Legacy of Health Project, Sloane, D. C., Diamant, A. L., Lewis, L. B., Yancey, A. K., Flynn, G., Nascimento, L. M., McCarthy, W. J., Guinyard, J. J., & Cousineau, M. R. (2003) · Journal of General Internal Medicine · doi:10.1046/j.1525-1497.2003.21022.x · Cited by 245 · see citing works
Mental Health and the Built Environment
Teresa Min-Jung, O. (1996) · Psychosomatic Medicine · doi:10.1097/00006842-199609000-00018 · Cited by 192 · see citing works
Sooman, A., MacIntyre, S., & Anderson, A. S. (1993) · PubMed · Cited by 156 · see citing works
Urban environment and mental health
Dalgard, O. S., & Tambs, K. (1997) · The British Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1192/bjp.171.6.530 · Cited by 146 · see citing works
Shohaimi, S., Welch, A., Bingham, S., Luben, R., Day, N., Wareham, N. J., & Khaw, K. (2004) · Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health · doi:10.1136/jech.2003.008490 · Cited by 131 · see citing works
Does where you live predict health related behaviours?: a case study in Glasgow.
Ellaway, A., & MacIntyre, S. (1996) · PubMed · Cited by 130 · see citing works
First-Store Loyalty and Retention
East, R., Hammond, K., Harris, P., et al. (2000) · Journal of Marketing Management · doi:10.1362/026725700784772907 · Cited by 122 · see citing works
Lang, T., & Caraher, M. (1998) · Health Education Journal · doi:10.1177/001789699805700303 · Cited by 113 · see citing works
Curtis, S. E., Cave, B., & Coutts, A. P. (2002) · Environment and Planning C Government and Policy · doi:10.1068/c02r · Cited by 107 · see citing works
Mental health and the built environment: More than bricks and mortar?
KEARNS, R. A. (1996) · Health & Place · doi:10.1016/1353-8292(96)84183-9 · Cited by 97 · see citing works
White, M. J., Bunting, J., Williams, E. S., Raybould, S., Adamson, A., & Mathers, J. C. (2004) · Newcastle University ePrints (Newcastle Univesity) · doi:10.25405/ncl.34586394 · Cited by 93 · see citing works
Mental Health and The Built Environment
Halpern, D. (2014) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9781315041131 · Cited by 82 · see citing works
Housing Renewal—Doesn't it Make You Sick?
Allen, T. (2000) · Housing Studies · doi:10.1080/02673030050009276 · Cited by 72 · see citing works
Rehousing as a health intervention: miracle or mirage?
Smith, S. J., Alexander, A., & Easterlow, D. (1997) · Health & Place · doi:10.1016/s1353-8292(97)00015-4 · Cited by 57 · see citing works
Wechsler, H., Basch, C. E., Zybert, P., Lantigua, R., & Shea, S. (1995) · American Journal of Public Health · doi:10.2105/ajph.85.12.1690 · Cited by 57 · see citing works
Large scale food retail interventions and diet
Cummins, S., Petticrew, M. P., Sparks, L., & Findlay, A. M. (2005) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.330.7493.683 · Cited by 53 · see citing works
Self-citationOff our trolleys? : food retailing and the hypermarket economy
Raven, H., Lang, T., & Dumonteil, C. (1995) · OpenGrey (Institut de l'Information Scientifique et Technique) · Cited by 48 · see citing works
Neighbourhood differences in diet: the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study
Szklo, M., Tyroler, H. A., Diez–Roux, A. V., et al. (2020) · Carolina Digital Repository (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) · doi:10.17615/f5a7-5g43 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
The fall of the wall and gender as “natural” experiments
Álvarez‐Dardet, C. (2000) · Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health · doi:10.1136/jech.54.2.81 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
(2013) · Journal of Clinical Engineering · doi:10.1097/01.jce.0000432069.68616.60 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
The local food environment and diet: a systematic review
Caspi, C. E., Sorensen, G., Subramanian, S. V., & Kawachi, I. (2012) · Health & Place · doi:10.1016/j.healthplace.2012.05.006 · Cited by 1,404 · see citing works
Food store availability and neighborhood characteristics in the United States
Powell, L. M., Slater, S., Mirtcheva, D., Bao, Y., & Chaloupka, F. J. (2007) · Preventive Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.ypmed.2006.08.008 · Cited by 1,059 · see citing works
Mozaffarian, D., Afshin, A., Benowitz, N. L., Bittner, V., Daniels, S. R., Franch, H. A., Jacobs, D. R., Kraus, W. E., Kris-Etherton, P. M., Krummel, D. A., et al. (2012) · Circulation · doi:10.1161/cir.0b013e318260a20b · Cited by 601 · see citing works
Moore, L. V., Diez Roux, A. V., Nettleton, J. A., & Jacobs, D. R. (2008) · American Journal of Epidemiology · doi:10.1093/aje/kwm394 · Cited by 563 · see citing works
Cummins, S., Flint, E., & Matthews, S. A. (2014) · Health Affairs · doi:10.1377/hlthaff.2013.0512 · Cited by 451 · see citing works
Self-citationBoone-Heinonen, J. (2011) · Archives of Internal Medicine · doi:10.1001/archinternmed.2011.283 · Cited by 382 · see citing works
Dietary Implications of Supermarket Development: A Global Perspective
Hawkes, C. (2008) · Development Policy Review · doi:10.1111/j.1467-7679.2008.00428.x · Cited by 328 · see citing works
Weighing the Evidence of Common Beliefs in Obesity Research
Casazza, K., Brown, A., Astrup, A., Bertz, F., Baum, C., Brown, M. B., Dawson, J., Durant, N., Dutton, G., Fields, D. A., et al. (2015) · Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition · doi:10.1080/10408398.2014.922044 · Cited by 169 · see citing works
Using a Smartphone Application to Promote Healthy Dietary Behaviours and Local Food Consumption
Gilliland, J., Sadler, R., Clark, A., O’Connor, C., Milczarek, M., & Doherty, S. (2015) · BioMed Research International · doi:10.1155/2015/841368 · Cited by 112 · see citing works
Pearce, J., Hiscock, R., Moon, G., & Barnett, R. (2009) · Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health · doi:10.1136/jech.2007.070656 · Cited by 96 · see citing works
Zoning for Health: The Obesity Epidemic and Opportunities for Local Policy Intervention
Chen, S. E., & Florax, R. J. G. M. (2010) · The Journal of Nutrition · doi:10.3945/jn.109.111336 · Cited by 45 · see citing works
- Authors
- Cummins, S., Petticrew, M., Higgins, C., Findlay, A., & Sparks, L.
- Affiliations
- University of London (GB)
- MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit (GB)
- University of Stirling (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Cummins, Steven
- Venue
- Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health
- Publisher
- BMJ
- Published
- 2005-11-14
- Volume
- 59
- Issue
- 12
- Pages
- 1035-1040
- ISSN
- 0141-7681 (ISSN-L)
- 0143-005X
- 1470-2738
- PMC
- PMC1732985
- OpenAlex
- W2000812326
- Cited by
- 297
- References
- 25
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 12 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 12 · 2017: 24 · 2016: 19 · 2015: 34 · 2014: 27 · 2013: 17 · 2012: 30
- FWCI
- 27.99
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- LSHTM Research Online (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine) (acceptedVersion)
- Stirling Online Research Repository (University of Stirling) (submittedVersion, public-domain)
- Funders
- University of Glasgow
- Medical Research Council
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Food Security and Health in Diverse Populations
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Nutrition, Health and Food Behavior
- Social Sciences › Health › Health disparities and outcomes
- Keywords
- fruit and vegetable intake, mental health, self-reported health, underserved areas, social intervention, food retail policy, natural experiment, GHQ-12, diet and health
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Diet, Diet Surveys, Feeding Behavior, Female, Food Services, Fruit, Health Status, Humans, Male, Mental Health, Middle Aged, Prospective Studies, Surveys and Questionnaires, Scotland, Socioeconomic Factors, Vegetables, Health Behavior
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
