Changes in food and beverage environments after an urban corner store intervention

• A pre/post-evaluation urban corner store foods with two levels of intervention
• Low-fat milk availability increased in conversion stores over time.
• Fresh fruit availability increased significantly over time in conversion stores.
• Greater increases over time in availability scores were seen in conversion stores.

ObjectiveIn response to the obesity epidemic, interventions to improve the food environment in corner stores have gained attention. This study evaluated the availability, quality, and price of foods in Philadelphia corner stores before and after a healthy corner store intervention with two levels of intervention intensity (“basic” and “conversion”).MethodsObservational measures of the food environment were completed in 2011 and again in 2012 in corner stores participating in the intervention, using the Nutrition Environment Measures Survey for Corner Stores (NEMS-CS). Main analyses included the 211 stores evaluated at both time-points. A time-by-treatment interaction analysis was used to evaluate the changes in NEMS-CS scores by intervention level over time.ResultsAvailability of fresh fruit increased significantly in conversion stores over time. Specifically, there were significant increases in the availability of apples, oranges, grapes, and broccoli in conversion stores over time. Conversion stores showed a trend toward a significantly larger increase in the availability score compared to basic stores over time.ConclusionInterventions aimed at increasing healthy food availability are associated with improvements in the availability of low-fat milk, fruits, and some vegetables, especially when infrastructure changes, such as refrigeration and shelving enhancements, are offered.