ArticleHealth promotion and chronic disease prevention in Canada : research, policy and practice2017
Development, reliability and use of a food environment assessment tool in supermarkets of four neighbourhoods in Montréal, Canada.
Article in Health promotion and chronic disease prevention in Canada : research, policy and practice, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Food environment research in Canada: a rapid review of methodologies and measures deployed between 2010 and 2021.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2024Pooled it
- Digital platform-based conceptual framework for food environment research in China.Public health nutrition · 2025Article
- Consumer nutrition environment measurements for nutrient-dense food availability and food sustainability: a scoping review.Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique · 2024Article
- Implementing a Rural Natural Experiment: A Protocol for Evaluating the Impacts of Food Coops on Food Consumption, Resident's Health and Community Vitality.Methods and protocols · 2022Article
- In-store food environment for adults and children in Nova Scotia, Canada.Canadian journal of public health = Revue canadienne de sante publique · 2021Article
- Urban Retail Food Environments: Relative Availability and Prominence of Exhibition of Healthy vs. Unhealthy Foods at Supermarkets in Buenos Aires, Argentina.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Development of a Method to Locate Deserts and Food Swamps Following the Experience of a Region in Quebec, Canada.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Article
- Commentary - Food for thought on food environments in Canada.Health promotion and chronic disease prevention in Canada : research, policy and practice · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionThe food environment is a promising arena in which to influence people's dietary habits. This study aimed to develop a comprehensive food environment assessment tool for businesses and characterize the food environment of a low-tomedium income area of Montréal, Canada.
methodsWe developed a tool, Mesure de l'environnement alimentaire du consommateur dans les supermarchés (MEAC-S), and tested it for reliability. We used the MEAC-S to assess the consumer food environment of 17 supermarkets in four neighbourhoods of Montréal. We measured the shelf length, variety, price, display counts and in-store positions of fruits and vegetables (FV) and ultra-processed food products (UPFPs). We also assessed fresh FV for quality. Store size was estimated using the total measured shelf length for all food categories. We conducted Spearman correlations between these indicators of the food environment.
resultsReliability analyses revealed satisfactory results for most indicators. Characterization of the food environment revealed high variability in shelf length, variety and price of FV between supermarkets and suggested a disproportionate promotion of UPFPs. Display counts of UPFPs outside their normal display location ranged from 7 to 26, and they occupied 8 to 33 strategic in-store positions, whereas the number of display counts of fresh FV outside their normal display location exceeded 1 in only 2 of the 17 stores surveyed, and they occupied a maximum of 2 strategic in-store positions per supermarket. Price of UPFPs was inversely associated with their prominence (p < .005) and promotion (p < .003). Store size was associated with display counts and strategic in-store positioning of UPFPs (p < .001), but not FV, and was inversely associated with the price of soft drinks (p < .003).
conclusionThis study illustrates the variability of the food environment between supermarkets and underscores the importance of measuring in-store characteristics to adequately picture the consumer food environment.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.