Start Date: December 2013

ID #: 71502

Principal Investigator: Karen Florez, DrPH, MPH

Organization: RAND Corporation

Funding Round: New Connections Round 7

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This study will take advantage of a unique natural experiment to evaluate the ways in which the home food environment modifies the effects of a new full-service supermarket on children’s diet in a low-resource, urban, African American neighborhood. The study has two specific aims: 1) to determine the effect of the new supermarket on children’s consumption of fruits, vegetables, and sugar-sweetened beverages, and 2) to test whether specific features of the home environment (i.e., breakfast norms, family food and beverage choices, family eating patterns) and child-feeding practices (i.e., parental restriction or reward with unhealthy snacks) moderate the effect of a new supermarket on children’s consumption of fruits, vegetables, and sugar-sweetened beverages. This study focuses on two lower-income, African American ‘food deserts’ in Pittsburgh, Pa.-the Hill District (intervention) and Homewood neighborhoods (control). Residents with children ages 5 to 13 will be surveyed before and after the opening of the new supermarket.

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