Healthy Corner Store Initiative
Condition: Obesity Prevention
MeSH terms: Obesity
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The proposed research will evaluate the efficacy of an intervention in urban corner stores.
      Community-based, environmental manipulation of corner stores is an understudied area and
      represents the next step in understanding and improving the nutritional intake of school
      students to prevent obesity.
    

Detailed description: 
      The HCSI is a community-based, multi-faceted, and broad-based intervention administered by
      The Food Trust. The HCSI is designed to permeate multiple aspects (i.e., social, educational,
      food availability) of the corner store environment. Moreover, it takes into account the
      unique aspects of each corner store.

      Theoretical Framework. The HCSI is grounded in social cognitive theory (SCT). By
      incorporating the environment, personal factors (including cognitions) and behavior, SCT
      provides a framework for designing, implementing, and evaluating behavioral change. It
      supports traditional behavioral methods (positive reinforcement, specific behavioral
      outcomes). Moreover, it underscores the critical role of the social environment (modeling,
      social reinforcement, social norms - as well as reducing the antecedents for purchasing
      unhealthy foods) in affecting change. Our initial work has assessed the feasibility of
      implementing the HCSI and collecting data (see preliminary studies). We are poised to test
      the efficacy of the HCSI in the proposed study.

      Behavioral Goals. The HCSI intervention seeks to: 1) decrease the purchase of high calorie
      snacks and beverages and to 2) increase the percentage of healthy snacks and beverages at the
      store level. Decreasing the purchase of high-calorie foods in the corner stores and/or
      decreasing sugar-sweetened soft drinks (assuming no change in physical activity) will shift
      energy balance to favor the prevention of overweight and obesity. These dietary goals are
      also consistent with the Institute of Medicine report on childhood obesity (Preventing
      Childhood Obesity: Health in the Balance, 2004). While we will measure BMI in the proposed
      study, our primary outcome of this initial randomized trial of efficacy is energy intake
      assessed at the time of purchase.

      Although the implementation of the intervention will vary depending on the characteristics of
      the corner store, the major components of the program are summarized below:

      Key informant interviews with corner store owners and teachers at local schools and
      after-school programs to determine how best to work with these key groups Social marketing
      campaign to reinforce messages about healthy snacking, Grouping healthy snacks and/or
      displaying signage for easy identification of healthier items, Integrating healthy snacking
      information into school and after-school programs to teach youngsters what comprises a
      healthy snack Involving family members and the community in promoting healthy snacking
      Working with snack and beverage manufacturers and distributors to increase the number of
      healthy snacks available in corner stores.
    

Intervention name(s): Healthy Corner Store Initiative; Control
Intervention type(s): Behavioral; Behavioral
Intervention description(s): modification of snacks and beverages offered in corner store surrounding 10 schools; control group in study
Other intervention name(s): HCSI
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Prevention
Keywords: obesity prevention; corner stores; schools