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Epidemiology

Does food store access modify associations between intrapersonal factors and fruit and vegetable consumption?

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 69, pages 902–906 (2015)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background/Objectives:

Existing theoretical frameworks suggest that healthy eating is facilitated by an individual’s ability, motivation and environmental opportunities. It is plausible, although largely untested, that the importance of factors related to ability and motivation differ under varied environmental conditions. This study aimed to determine whether the magnitude of associations between fruit and vegetable consumption and intrapersonal factors (ability and motivation) were modified by differences in access to stores selling these items (environmental opportunities).

Subjects/Methods: 

Cross-sectional analysis of 4335 women from socioeconomically disadvantaged neighbourhoods in the state of Victoria, Australia. Self-reported fruit and vegetable consumption was assessed against a number of ability- and motivation-related factors. To examine whether associations were modified by store access, interactions with access to supermarkets and greengrocers within 2 km of participants’ households were tested.

Results:

Of the two factors related to ability and seven factors related to motivation, almost all were associated with fruit and vegetable consumption. In general, associations were not modified by store access suggesting that these factors were not tempered by environmental opportunities.

Conclusions:

This study provides little support for the hypothesis that the importance of intra-personal factors to fruit and vegetable consumption is modified by food store access. Further research on this topic is required to inform behaviour change interventions.

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Acknowledgements

The READI study was funded by an Australian National Health and Medical Research Council Strategic Award, ID 374241. KEL is supported by a Deakin University Alfred Deakin Postdoctoral Research Fellowship. KB is supported by an Australian National Health and Medical Research Council Principal Research Fellowship, ID 1042442. We are grateful to the READI research staff who assisted with the management of the survey data and the GIS measures used in this study.

Disclosure

The funding agencies had no role in the study design, collection, analysis and interpretation of data, writing the report and the decision to submit the report for publication.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Physical Activity and Nutrition Research, Deakin University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

    L E Thornton, K E Lamb, D A Crawford & K Ball

  2. Kinesiology Department, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA, USA

    M Tseng

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  1. L E Thornton
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  2. K E Lamb
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Correspondence to L E Thornton.

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Supplementary Information accompanies this paper on European Journal of Clinical Nutrition website

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Thornton, L., Lamb, K., Tseng, M. et al. Does food store access modify associations between intrapersonal factors and fruit and vegetable consumption?. Eur J Clin Nutr 69, 902–906 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2014.287

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