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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Carol R Horowitz, MD, MPH, Kathryn A Colson, MPH, and Paul L Hebert, PhD. Health Policy, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, 1425 Madison Ave, New york, NY 10029, 212-659-9567, Carol.Horowitz@mountsinai.org
BACKGROUND: People of color have increased risk of diabetes and its complications. As part of an effort to improve diabetes care in East Harlem (EH)—a predominantly African American and Latino neighborhood in NY City—a community coalition compared the availability of foods appropriate for people with diabetes in EH and the Upper East Side (UES). UES is a largely White and relatively affluent adjacent neighborhood. METHODS: From April to June, 2001, pairs of nutritionists and local outreach workers attempted to document the presence of 5 diabetes-healthy items: low-fat milk, diet soda, high fiber and/or low carbohydrate bread, fresh fruit and green vegetables in all EH and UES grocery stores. Stores were defined as either large markets, or small "bodegas," based on the number of cash registers. RESULTS: We surveyed 99% of all grocery stores: 173 in EH and 152 in UES. Overall, 18% of stores in EH had at all 5 recommended items on their shelves versus 58% in UES (p <0.0001). This translates into 26 stores/100,000 residents carrying all 5 items in EH versus 36/100,000 in UES (p < 0.001). Bodegas in EH were substantially less likely to carry all items (9% EH vs. 47% UES; p=0.001) and accounted for a higher fraction of the stores in EH than in UES (80% vs. 63%, p=0.021). Large markets in EH appeared less likely to carry all items (56% EH vs. 77% UES; p=0.06). CONCLUSION: People in EH may have limited access to grocery stores in their neighborhood that carry the diabetes-healthy items included in this survey. These findings could inform nutrition interventions for EH, ranging from educating patients about sources of healthy foods, to increasing food distributor and store owner responsiveness to dietary needs of East Harlem residents.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Diabetes, Minority Health
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.