A possible dose–response association between distance to farmers’ markets and roadside produce stands, frequency of shopping, fruit and vegetable consumption, and body mass index among customers in the Southern United States

ECU Author/Contributor (non-ECU co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)

Jedediah Hinkley (Creator)

Stephanie Bell Jilcott Pitts (Creator)

Mary Jane Lyonnais (Creator)

Jared T. McGuirt (Creator)

Lisa Phillips (Creator)

Ann P. Rafferty (Creator)

Olivia R. Whitt (Creator)

Nancy L. Winterbauer (Creator)

Qiang Wu (Creator)

Institution

East Carolina University (ECU )

Web Site: http://www.ecu.edu/lib/

Abstract: Background: The association between farmers’ market characteristics and consumer shopping habits remains\r\nunclear. Our objective was to examine associations among distance to farmers’ markets, amenities within farmers’\r\nmarkets, frequency of farmers’ market shopping, fruit and vegetable consumption, and body mass index (BMI). We\r\nhypothesized that the relationship between frequency of farmers’ market shopping and BMI would be mediated by\r\nfruit and vegetable consumption.\r\nMethods: In 15 farmers’ markets in northeastern North Carolina, July–September 2015, we conducted a crosssectional\r\nsurvey among 263 farmers’ market customers (199 provided complete address data) and conducted\r\nfarmers’ market audits. To participate, customers had to be over 18 years of age, and English speaking. Dependent\r\nvariables included farmers’ market shopping frequency, fruit and vegetable consumption, and BMI. Analysis of\r\nvariance, adjusted multinomial logistic regression, Poisson regression, and linear regression models, adjusted for\r\nage, race, sex, and education, were used to examine associations between distance to farmers’ markets, amenities\r\nwithin farmers’ markets, frequency of farmers’ market shopping, fruit and vegetable consumption, and BMI.\r\nResults: Those who reported shopping at farmers’ markets a few times per year or less reported consuming 4.4\r\n(standard deviation = 1.7) daily servings of fruits and vegetables, and those who reported shopping 2 or more times\r\nper week reported consuming 5.5 (2.2) daily servings. There was no association between farmers’ market amenities,\r\nand shopping frequency or fruit and vegetable consumption. Those who shopped 2 or more times per week had a\r\nstatistically significantly lower BMI than those who shopped less frequently. There was no evidence of mediation of\r\nthe relationship between frequency of shopping and BMI by fruit and vegetable consumption.\r\nConclusions: More work should be done to understand factors within farmers’ markets that encourage fruit and\r\nvegetable purchases.

Additional Information

Publication

Other

Language: English

Date: 2023

Subjects

Farmers' market;Community nutrition;Fruit;Vegetable;Obesity;Consumer behavior

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