Do supermarkets contribute to the obesity pandemic in developing countries?
Simon C Kimenju1, Ramona Rischke2, Stephan Klasen2
11Tegemeo Institute of Agricultural Policy and Development,PO Box 20498 00200,NairobiKenya.
Public Health Nutrition
|April 15, 2015
Summary
Supermarket purchases are linked to increased adult overweight and reduced child undernutrition in Kenya. These effects stem from changes in food energy intake and dietary composition, varying by age and initial nutritional status.
Area of Science:
- Nutrition science
- Public health
- Development economics
Background:
- Developing countries face a nutrition transition characterized by rising overweight and obesity rates.
- This transition coincides with the rapid expansion of supermarkets in these regions.
- Understanding the impact of these retail changes on nutritional status is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the direct contribution of supermarkets to overweight and changes in nutritional status.
- To analyze the pathways through which supermarket purchases influence nutrition.
Main Methods:
- Utilized cross-sectional observational data from a quasi-experimental survey in Kenya.
- Employed instrumental variable regressions to assess the impact of supermarket purchases on nutritional status.
- Estimated causal chain models to explore the mechanisms linking supermarkets to nutrition.
Main Results:
- Supermarket purchasing was associated with significantly higher Body Mass Index (BMI) and increased probability of overweight in adults.
- No similar overweight effect was observed in children; instead, supermarket purchases were linked to reduced undernutrition (height-for-age Z-score).
- Nutritional impacts were mediated by increased food energy consumption and altered dietary composition, differing by age and initial nutritional status.
Conclusions:
- Supermarkets and their sales strategies influence food consumption habits and nutritional outcomes.
- The specific nutritional outcomes vary significantly between age groups and individuals' baseline nutritional status.
- A simplistic determination of whether supermarkets are beneficial or detrimental to public health and nutrition is not supported by the findings.
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