Access to newer supermarkets that offer fresh foods in some of New York City’s poorest neighborhoods was linked to a 1% decline in obesity rates among public school students living nearby, a new study shows.
The modernized markets were also tied to reductions of between 4% and 10% in the average student BMI-z score, a measure of body weight based on height for each age group by gender.
Led by researchers at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, the new study showed that within a year after opening of newly renovated or new supermarkets, obesity rates dropped from 24.3% to 23.3% among 22,712 school-age children living within a half-mile of eight such stores. This reduction was compared with no change in obesity rates among 86,744 students who resided farther away from one of the publicly subsidized stores with more space for fresh produce and perishable foods.
Rummo, an assistant professor in the Department of Population Health at NYU Langone Health, attributes this to the fact that teenagers have greater freedom to travel outside their local neighborhood than younger kids. Teenagers also traditionally have more money to spend on snack food at bodegas or fast-food restaurants.