| There has been an increased awareness of the local food environment and its possible impact on diet. It is essential to understand how the local food environment impacts the home food environment. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine whether (1) there are differences in the local food environment (grocery stores) based on the income level of census tract or neighborhood in which the store is located, and (2) if the home food inventory (HFI) scores differ depending on the census tract in which the households primary food purchaser shops. Fourteen stores in the lowest (n=7) and highest income (n=7) tracts in the city of Chicago and patronized by 36 participants from a current ongoing parent study were assessed by researchers using the Nutrition Environment Measures Survey-Stores (NEMS-S) tool. The HFI and subscore, HFI obesogenic (HFI-O), of the 36 participants were also determined in relation to income group. Patrons of low-income stores had non-significantly higher HFI-O scores (mean +/- SD, 21.6 +/- 6.4) than those of patronizing stores in high-income tracts (17.9 +/- 8.1). Additional research is needed to gain a better understanding of how the local retail environment impacts the foods available in the home. |
