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Grant Details

Grant Number: 1R01CA149105-01 Interpret this number
Primary Investigator: Dubowitz, Tamara
Organization: Rand Corporation
Project Title: Does a New Supermarket Improve Dietary Behaviors of Low-Income African Americans?
Fiscal Year: 2010


Abstract

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Does a new supermarket improve dietary behaviors of low-income African Americans? Obesity poses a serious threat to the health of our nation. Two thirds of adults in the United States are either overweight or obese, and low-income and racial/ethnic minorities are disproportionately affected. Poor dietary quality and patterns are key risk factors for obesity, and both diet and obesity are established risk factors for cancer and other chronic diseases. Increasing evidence suggests that modifying the food environment to support healthy eating may have a sustainable population impact on diet and obesity. Yet, environmental approaches are understudied. In 2010, an 8.5 million dollar full-service grocery store, financed with public and private funds, will change the food retail landscape of the Hill District, a collection of contiguous neighborhoods of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. This joint public-private endeavor provides a unique and critically timed opportunity to examine how change in the availability of healthy foods affects food purchasing and dietary intake of residents in a US community. This full-service grocery store will be the first in nearly 30 years for this low-income, predominantly African-American community. The proposed study will capitalize on this natural experiment. Our specific aims are (1) to describe the availability, price, and shelf-space of healthy and less healthy options within food retail venues before and after the introduction of a full-service grocery store; (2) to determine the impact of the introduction of a full-service grocery store on food purchasing behaviors and dietary intake; and (3) to determine the extent to which these associations are modified by access factors (e.g., means of transportation and degree of spatial proximity to the grocery store) and socio-cultural factors (e.g., attitudes toward eating a healthy diet, perceived barriers to eating a healthy diet, and social support for healthy eating). We propose to use a matched quasi-experimental design involving one pre- and two post-"intervention" assessments of 1,000 households in the Hill District and 650 households in matched comparison neighborhood. Using door-to-door surveys, we will collect information on participants' household food purchasing and individual dietary intake. We will also conduct pre- and post- assessments of the food environment in the intervention and comparison neighborhoods. The food environment assessments will document the number and type of food purchasing venues and assess availability, quality, and price of healthy foods in these venues. Collectively, these data will allow us to examine how opening a full-service grocery store in a low-income, predominantly African American neighborhood, affects peoples' diet and food purchasing behaviors in both the short and long term. Our study will fill significant gaps in the literature on environmental determinants of diet and obesity and will help address key policy questions about the effects of the physical environment on these outcomes. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Does a new supermarket improve dietary behaviors of low-income African Americans? Dubowitz/PI Project Narrative Residents of low-income, minority, and rural neighborhoods have limited spatial access to grocery stores and therefore less access to healthful food. While research has documented this association, no published studies in the United States have investigated the impact of building a grocery store in a low-income community on residents' food purchasing and dietary behaviors. Our study will evaluate such a natural experiment, providing evidence of whether this type of environmental change can lead to better dietary quality, a critical step to reducing obesity.



Publications

A Preliminary Analysis of Stress Burden and Cognitive Function and Clinically Adjudicated Cognitive Outcomes in Black American Adults.
Authors: Troxel W.M. , Dubowitz T. , Haas A. , Ghosh-Dastidar B. , Butters M.A. , Gary-Webb T.L. , Weinstein A.M. , Ibeanu A. , Wagner L. , Gildengers A. , et al. .
Source: The Journals Of Gerontology. Series A, Biological Sciences And Medical Sciences, 2024-09-01 00:00:00.0; 79(9), .
PMID: 39021075
Related Citations

Community Investments and Diet-Related Outcomes: A Longitudinal Study of Residents of Two Urban Neighborhoods.
Authors: Dubowitz T. , Ghosh-Dastidar B. , Beckman R. , Richardson A.S. , Hunter G.P. , Burns R.M. , Cantor J. , Mendoza-Graf A. , Collins R.L. .
Source: American Journal Of Preventive Medicine, 2024 Apr; 66(4), p. 681-689.
EPub date: 2023-11-14 00:00:00.0.
PMID: 37972799
Related Citations

Do Publicly Funded Neighborhood Investments Impact Individual-Level Health-Related Outcomes? A Longitudinal Study of Two Neighborhoods in Pittsburgh, PA from 2011 to 2018.
Authors: Smith R.B. , Baird M.D. , Hunter G.P. , Ghosh-Dastidar B. , Richardson A.S. , Cantor J.H. , Dubowitz T. .
Source: Housing Policy Debate, 2024; 34(4), p. 489-507.
EPub date: 2024-02-19 00:00:00.0.
PMID: 39157451
Related Citations

Exploring differences in perceptions of gentrification, neighborhood satisfaction, social cohesion, and health among residents of two predominantly African American Pittsburgh neighborhoods (n = 60).
Authors: Mendoza-Graf A. , MacCarthy S. , Collins R. , Wagner L. , Dubowitz T. .
Source: Bmc Public Health, 2023-11-01 00:00:00.0; 23(1), p. 2137.
EPub date: 2023-11-01 00:00:00.0.
PMID: 37915015
Related Citations

Police Bias and Low Relatability and Diet Quality: Examining the Importance of Psychosocial Factors in Predominantly Black Communities.
Authors: Richardson A.S. , Collins R.L. , Burns R.M. , Cantor J. , Siddiqi S.M. , Dubowitz T. .
Source: Journal Of Urban Health : Bulletin Of The New York Academy Of Medicine, 2023-10-04 00:00:00.0; , .
EPub date: 2023-10-04 00:00:00.0.
PMID: 37792250
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Design of the think PHRESH longitudinal cohort study: Neighborhood disadvantage, cognitive aging, and alzheimer's disease risk in disinvested, black neighborhoods.
Authors: Rosso A.L. , Troxel W.M. , Gary-Webb T.L. , Weinstein A.M. , Butters M.A. , Palimaru A. , Ghosh-Dastidar B. , Wagner L. , Nugroho A. , Hunter G. , et al. .
Source: Bmc Public Health, 2023-04-03 00:00:00.0; 23(1), p. 636.
EPub date: 2023-04-03 00:00:00.0.
PMID: 37013498
Related Citations

Longitudinal associations between sleep and BMI in a low-income, predominantly Black American sample.
Authors: Brooks Holliday S. , Dong L. , Haas A. , Ghosh-Dastidar M.B. , Dubowitz T. , Buysse D.J. , Hale L. , Troxel W.M. .
Source: Sleep Health, 2023 Feb; 9(1), p. 11-17.
EPub date: 2022-11-28 00:00:00.0.
PMID: 36456450
Related Citations

Examining the Cross-sectional Association Between Neighborhood Conditions, Discrimination, and Telomere Length in a Predominantly African American Sample.
Authors: Troxel W.M. , Madrigano J. , Haas A.C. , Dubowitz T. , Rosso A.L. , Prather A.A. , Ghosh-Dastidar M. , Weinstein A.M. , Butters M.A. , Presto A. , et al. .
Source: Journal Of Racial And Ethnic Health Disparities, 2023-01-06 00:00:00.0; , .
EPub date: 2023-01-06 00:00:00.0.
PMID: 36607563
Related Citations

What Is Associated with Changes in Food Security among Low-Income Residents of a Former Food Desert?
Authors: Cantor J. , Ghosh-Dastidar B. , Hunter G. , Baird M. , Richardson A.S. , Siddiqi S. , Dubowitz T. .
Source: Nutrients, 2022-12-09 00:00:00.0; 14(24), .
EPub date: 2022-12-09 00:00:00.0.
PMID: 36558400
Related Citations

Symptom Severity Mixity in Older-Age Bipolar Disorder: Analyses From the Global Aging and Geriatric Experiments in Bipolar Disorder Database (GAGE-BD).
Authors: Eyler L.T. , Briggs F.B.S. , Dols A. , Rej S. , Almeida O.P. , Beunders A.J.M. , Blumberg H.P. , Forester B.P. , Patrick R.E. , Forlenza O.V. , et al. .
Source: The American Journal Of Geriatric Psychiatry : Official Journal Of The American Association For Geriatric Psychiatry, 2022 Oct; 30(10), p. 1096-1107.
EPub date: 2022-04-20 00:00:00.0.
PMID: 35637088
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Multi-dimensional Profiles of Risk and Their Association with Obesity-Severity in Low-Income Black Women.
Authors: Richardson A.S. , Collins R.L. , Ghosh-Dastidar B. , Beckman R. , Troxel W.M. , Dubowitz T. .
Source: Journal Of Immigrant And Minority Health, 2022-08-10 00:00:00.0; , .
EPub date: 2022-08-10 00:00:00.0.
PMID: 35948822
Related Citations

Job loss and psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic: Longitudinal Analysis from residents in nine predominantly African American low-income neighborhoods.
Authors: Baird M.D. , Cantor J. , Troxel W.M. , Dubowitz T. .
Source: Health Economics, 2022-06-25 00:00:00.0; , .
EPub date: 2022-06-25 00:00:00.0.
PMID: 35751857
Related Citations

Demographic and Clinical Characteristics of Antipsychotic Drug-Treated Older Adults with Bipolar Disorder from the Global Aging & Geriatric Experiments in Bipolar Disorder Database (GAGE-BD).
Authors: Chen P. , Eyler L.T. , Gildengers A. , Beunders A.J. , Blumberg H.P. , Briggs F.B. , Dols A. , Rej S. , Forlenza O.V. , Jimenez E. , et al. .
Source: Psychopharmacology Bulletin, 2022-05-31 00:00:00.0; 52(2), p. 8-33.
PMID: 35721813
Related Citations

Examining the impact of employment status on sleep quality during the COVID-19 pandemic in two low-income neighborhoods in Pittsburgh, PA.
Authors: Baird M.D. , Dubowitz T. , Cantor J. , Troxel W.M. .
Source: Sleep, 2022-03-14 00:00:00.0; 45(3), .
PMID: 35018476
Related Citations

Longitudinal Associations Between Changes in Cigarette Smoking and Alcohol Use, Eating Behavior, Perceived Stress, and Self-Rated Health in a Cohort of Low-Income Black Adults.
Authors: Bloom E.L. , Bogart A. , Dubowitz T. , Collins R.L. , Ghosh-Dastidar B. , Gary-Webb T.L. , Troxel W. .
Source: Annals Of Behavioral Medicine : A Publication Of The Society Of Behavioral Medicine, 2022-01-01 00:00:00.0; 56(1), p. 112-124.
PMID: 33970236
Related Citations

Sleep Disturbances, Changes in Sleep, and Cognitive Function in Low-Income African Americans.
Authors: Troxel W.M. , Haas A. , Dubowitz T. , Ghosh-Dastidar B. , Butters M.A. , Gary-Webb T.L. , Weinstein A.M. , Rosso A.L. .
Source: Journal Of Alzheimer's Disease : Jad, 2022; 87(4), p. 1591-1601.
PMID: 35527545
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RE: "IMPROVEMENTS IN NEIGHBORHOOD SOCIOECONOMIC CONDITIONS MAY IMPROVE RESIDENT DIET".

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