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Pricey grocery stores attract skinniest shoppers
Obese customers far more common at low-cost markets; poverty a factor
By JoNel Aleccia
Health writer
updated 6:09 a.m. MT, Mon., May 24, 2010
The percentage of food shoppers who are obese is almost 10 times higher at low-cost grocery stores compared with upscale markets, a small new study shows.
Researchers say the striking findings underscore poverty as a key factor in America?s growing girth.
. . .
?Deep down, obesity is really an economic issue,? Drewnowski said.
His research team studied 2,001 shoppers in the Seattle area between December 2008 and March 2009, tracking their choice of supermarkets and comparing it with their education, income and obesity rates. They measured obesity by asking consumers to report their height and weight, then calculating body mass index. People with a BMI higher than 30 were identified as obese.
Drewnowski was quick to note that the study focused only on Seattle, which has an obesity rate much lower than the U.S. average of about 34 percent. He doesn?t claim that the same rates would bear out in other cities.
. . .
Instead, he contends it?s because healthy, low-calorie foods cost more money and take more effort to prepare than processed, high-calorie foods. In a separate study two years ago, Drewnowski estimated that a calorie-dense diet cost $3.52 a day compared with $36.32 a day for a low-calorie diet.
?If you have $3 to feed yourself, your choices gravitate toward foods which give you the most calories per dollar,? he has said.
. . .
Still, the first-ever study of shoppers and the stores they choose is a stark illustration of an obesity divide fueled by poverty, Foster noted.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37280972/ns/health-diet_and_nutrition/
Obese customers far more common at low-cost markets; poverty a factor
By JoNel Aleccia
Health writer
updated 6:09 a.m. MT, Mon., May 24, 2010
The percentage of food shoppers who are obese is almost 10 times higher at low-cost grocery stores compared with upscale markets, a small new study shows.
Researchers say the striking findings underscore poverty as a key factor in America?s growing girth.
. . .
?Deep down, obesity is really an economic issue,? Drewnowski said.
His research team studied 2,001 shoppers in the Seattle area between December 2008 and March 2009, tracking their choice of supermarkets and comparing it with their education, income and obesity rates. They measured obesity by asking consumers to report their height and weight, then calculating body mass index. People with a BMI higher than 30 were identified as obese.
Drewnowski was quick to note that the study focused only on Seattle, which has an obesity rate much lower than the U.S. average of about 34 percent. He doesn?t claim that the same rates would bear out in other cities.
. . .
Instead, he contends it?s because healthy, low-calorie foods cost more money and take more effort to prepare than processed, high-calorie foods. In a separate study two years ago, Drewnowski estimated that a calorie-dense diet cost $3.52 a day compared with $36.32 a day for a low-calorie diet.
?If you have $3 to feed yourself, your choices gravitate toward foods which give you the most calories per dollar,? he has said.
. . .
Still, the first-ever study of shoppers and the stores they choose is a stark illustration of an obesity divide fueled by poverty, Foster noted.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37280972/ns/health-diet_and_nutrition/
