title: Availability of healthy snack foods and beverages in stores near high-income urban, low-income urban, and rural elementary and middle schools in Oregon.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Food stores near schools are an important source of snacks for children. However, few studies have assessed availability of healthy snacks in these settings. The aim of this study was to assess availability of healthy snack foods and beverages in stores near schools and examine how availability of healthy items varied by poverty level of the school and rural-urban location.
  
  
  METHODS
  Food stores were selected based on their proximity to elementary/middle schools in three categories: high-income urban, low-income urban, and rural. Audits were conducted within the stores to assess the presence or absence of 48 items in single-serving sizes, including healthy beverages, healthy snacks, fresh fruits, and fresh vegetables.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall, availability of healthy snack foods and beverages was low in all stores. However, there was significant cross-site variability in availability of several snack and fruit items, with stores near high-income urban schools having higher availability, compared to stores near low-income urban and/or rural schools. Stores near rural schools generally had the lowest availability, although several fruits were found more often in rural stores than in urban stores. There were no significant differences in availability of healthy beverages and fresh vegetables across sites.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Availability of healthy snack foods and beverages was limited in stores near schools, but these limitations were more severe in stores proximal to rural and low-income schools. Given that children frequent these stores to purchase snacks, efforts to increase the availability of healthy products, especially in stores near rural and low-income schools, should be a priority.
authors: 1 School of Nursing, Oregon Health & Science University , La Grande, OR.
authors: Nancy E
authors: NE
authors: Findholt
authors: Betty T
authors: BT
authors: Izumi
authors: Thuan
authors: T
authors: Nguyen
authors: Hayley
authors: H
authors: Pickus
authors: Zunqiu
authors: Z
authors: Chen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001628:Beverages; D002648:Child; D002755:Choice Behavior; D003132:Commerce / Q000191:economics / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003611:Dairy Products / Q000600:supply & distribution; D005260:Female; D005523:Food Supply / Q000191:economics / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D058870:Food, Organic / Q000600:supply & distribution; D005638:Fruit / Q000600:supply & distribution; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D008297:Male; D009922:Oregon / Q000453:epidemiology; D063766:Pediatric Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011203:Poverty; D012424:Rural Population; D012574:Schools; D062410:Snacks; D012923:Social Class; D012931:Social Environment; D014505:Urban Population; D014675:Vegetables / Q000600:supply & distribution