Dietary Implications of Supermarket Development: A Global Perspective

Interesting article by Corinna Hawkes has been pulished on the Development Policy Review(2008, 26 (6): 657-692).

The abstract of the article is provided below.

"Five decisions by supermarket operators have important dietary implications:
- the location of their outlets;
- the foods they sell;
- the prices they charge;
- the promotional strategies they use; and
- the nutrition-related activities they implement.

These decisions influence food accessibility, availability, prices and desirability, which in turn influence the decisions consumers make about food.

Based on a comprehensive literature review, this article finds that the dietary implications are both positive – supermarkets can make a more diverse diet available and accessible to more people – and negative – supermarkets can reduce the ability of marginalised populations to purchase a high-quality diet, and encourage the consumption of energy-dense, nutrient-poor highly-processed foods.

Overall, the most universally applicable dietary implication is that supermarkets encourage consumers to eat more, whatever the food."

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