Preferred Healthy Food Nudges, Food Store Environments, and Customer Dietary Practices in 2 Low-Income Southern Communities.
To examine how food store environments can promote healthful eating, including (1) preferences for a variety of behavioral economics strategies to promote healthful food purchases, and (2) the cross-sectional association between the primary food store where participants reported shopping, dietary behaviors, and body mass index.



Intercept survey participants (n = 342) from 2 midsized eastern North Carolina communities completed questionnaires regarding preferred behavioral economics strategies, the primary food store at which they shopped, and consumption of fruits, vegetables, and sugary beverages.



Frequently selected behavioral economic strategies included: (1) a token and reward system for fruit and vegetable purchases; and (2) price discounts on healthful foods and beverages. There was a significant association between the primary food store and consumption of fruits and vegetables (P = .005) and sugary beverages (P = .02).



Future studies should examine associations between elements of the in-store food environment, purchases, and consumption.
Department of Public Health, Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC. Electronic address: jilcotts@ecu.edu.
Stephanie B
SB
Jilcott Pitts
Department of Biostatistics, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC.
Qiang
Q
Wu
Prevention Research Center, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC.
Patricia A
PA
Sharpe
Department of Public Health, Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC.
Ann P
AP
Rafferty
NYU School of Medicine and NYU Wagner School of Public Service, New York, NY.
Brian
B
Elbel
Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention; Department of Nutrition, Gillings School of Global Public Health and School of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC.
Alice S
AS
Ammerman
Marketing Department, College of Business, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM.
Collin R
CR
Payne
Center for Advanced Hindsight, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC.
Beth N
BN
Hopping
Department of Nutrition, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC.
Jared T
JT
McGuirt
Nutrition & Dietetics Program, School of Health Sciences, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC.
Elizabeth D
ED
Wall-Bassett
D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004032:Diet / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D005523:Food Supply / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005638:Fruit; D015438:Health Behavior; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009657:North Carolina / Q000453:epidemiology; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology; D011203:Poverty; D014675:Vegetables
diet; food store; fruit; health behavior; nutrition; obesity; vegetable