Environmental change program associated with relative decrease in frequency of carryout/fast food consumption among African American caregivers

Low‐income African American families in Baltimore City live in neighborhoods with limited access to healthy foods. The Baltimore Healthy Eating Zones (BHEZ) study aimed to improve diet quality among adolescents and their caregivers through an environmental intervention that involved peer mentoring, cooking demonstrations, taste tests, point‐of‐sale marketing and promotional giveaways at recreation centers and corner stores over a 9 month intervention period. Caregiver and child dyads (n=242) from 7 control and 7 intervention sites were interviewed before and after the intervention and asked about their monthly food purchases from carry out and fast food restaurants. Changes in the frequency of these food purchases were analyzed using a Wilcoxan Signed Ranks Test. The frequency of food purchases by caregivers from carry out and fast food restaurants significantly increased from 1.50±2.18 to 3.88±4.99 times per month among the control group (p=0.037) but did not significantly change from 8.67±10.06 to 6.12±8.70 times per month in the intervention group (p=0.119). These preliminary findings suggest that an environmental intervention like the BHEZ program may be an effective approach for improving the food purchasing behaviors of adult African American caregivers. Grant Funding Source : The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation