Characterizing Retail Food Environments in Peri-Urban Pakistan during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Study Setting
2.2. Survey Tool Development
- Accessibility measures included days and hours of operation, proximity to schools, and type of food outlet.
- Availability referred to food availability and diversity of certain food and beverage products offered at different retailers (i.e., healthy food options vs. unhealthy food options).
- Promotion referred to food advertising, marketing, and branding, and packaging directed at individuals through various mediums.
2.3. Sampling Strategy
2.4. Statistical Analysis
3. Results
3.1. Accessibility
3.2. Availability
3.3. Promotion
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Supplementary Materials
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Term | Definition |
---|---|
Food outlet | A food outlet includes all establishments where customers can buy food and drinks. These can include corner/convenience stores, fast-food outlets, wet markets, mobile/street/kiosk vendors, and restaurants. |
Wet market | A wet market is a large outdoor, ‘open-air’ market, where individual vendors might sell fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as meat, fish, and grains. |
Mobile food/street/kiosk vendor | A mobile food vendor, street vendor, or kiosk is usually run out of a motorized vehicles or non-motorized cart. These sorts of establishments are primarily engaged in preparing and serving meals and snacks for immediate consumption, like a specialty snack, such as pakoras, bun kebobs, or crisps; or serving non-alcoholic beverages, such as coffee, juices, or sodas. Consumption of the food or drink would usually happen at the vendor’s spot or nearby. |
Small retailers | A corner or convenience store is a small store that sells some staple foods and a limited range of household goods. |
Fast-food service | A fast-food outlet is usually a food retail shop with a limited menu that offers precooked or quickly prepared foods. In these shops, customers generally order or select items and pay before eating. Food and drink may be consumed on premises, taken out, or delivered to customers’ location. |
Formal food service | Formal food service are outlets where people pay to sit and eat a meal that has been cooked on the premises and served to them (i.e., restaurants and cafes). Customers will usually order food while seated from a server and pay after eating. Sometimes restaurants may provide take away service. |
Strata | Description | Population | Number of Villages | Number of People Per Village | % Food Insecure | Distribution of Villages (Per Strata) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Small villages (<25% of population) | 3362 | 144 | 58 | 30% | 55 |
2 | Medium villages (25–75% of population) | 60376 | 295 | 59–490 | 27% | 113 |
3 | Large villages (>75% of population) | 281708 | 146 | >490 | 29% | 56 |
Total | 345446 | 585 | ||||
Sample | 224 |
Accessibility | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Small | Medium | Large | p | |
Food Outlets in Village Catchment n (%) | <0.001 | |||
Mobile vendors (n = 560) | 129 (47.8) | 247 (45.1) | 184 (27.6) | |
Corner stores (n = 517) | 74 (27.4) | 203 (37.0) | 240 (36.0) | |
Specialized food (n = 244) | 38 (14.1) | 68 (12.4) | 138 (20.7) | |
Fast-food (n = 109) | 16 (5.9) | 21 (3.8) | 72 (10.8) | |
Restaurants (n= 49) | 11 (4.1) | 7 (1.3) | 31 (4.6) | |
Other (n = 5) | 2 (0.7) | 2 (0.4) | 1 (0.2) | |
Total (n = 1484) | 270 | 548 | 666 | |
Proximity to schools n (%) | <0.001 | |||
Walking distance < 5 min | 57 (21.1) | 143 (26.1) | 251 (37.7) | |
Walking distance > 5 min | 83 (30.7) | 136 (24.8) | 256 (38.4) | |
Walking distance > 10 min | 30 (11.1) | 44 (8.0) | 108 (16.2) | |
Other (outside of school) | 100 (37.0) | 225 (41.1) | 51(7.7) | |
Hours of operation n (%) | <0.001 | |||
All hours | 2 (0.7) | 4 (0.7) | 1 (0.2) | |
Morning (7 a.m.–10 a.m.) | 178 (65.9) | 361 (65.9) | 564 (84.7) | |
Afternoon (12 p.m.–4 p.m.) | 51(18.9) | 75 (13.7) | 42 (6.3) | |
Evening (4 p.m.–close) | 3 (1.1) | 7 (1.3) | 31(4.7) | |
No fixed time | 36 (13.3) | 101 (18.4) | 28 (4.2) | |
Days of operation n (%) | <0.001 | |||
All days | 152 (56.3) | 308 (56.2) | 548 (82.3) | |
Weekdays | 0 | 2 (0.4) | 4 (0.6) | |
Weekends | 0 | 1 (0.2) | 2 (0.3) | |
Other a | 118 (43.7) | 237 (43.2) | 112 (16.8) | |
Availability | ||||
Mean number of healthy food group items (SD) | 1.2 (1.4) | 1.4 (1.5) | 1.5 (1.8) | <0.052 |
Mean number of unhealthy food group items (SD) | 1.2 (1.5) | 1.3 (1.5) | 1.6 (1.4) | <0.001 |
Mean number of total food group items (SD) | 2.6 (2.4) | 2.9 (2.6) | 3.2 (2.8) | <0.006 |
Type of Food Outlet | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Type of Food n (%) | Mobile Vendors (n = 560) | Corner Stores (n = 517) | Specialized Food (n = 244) | Fast-Food (n = 109) | Restaurants (n = 49) |
Fruits | 197 (35.2) | 51 (9.9) | 2 (0.8) | 3 (2.8) | 1 (2.0) |
Vegetables | 86 (15.4) | 106 (20.5) | 3 (1.2) | 3 (2.8) | 29 (59.8) |
Roots/Tubers | 85 (15.2) | 261 (50.5) | 3 (1.2) | 6 (5.5) | 26 (53.1) |
Legumes/Pulses | 4 (0.7) | 316 (61.1) | 0 | 2 (1.8) | 39 (79.6) |
Nuts | 6 (1.1) | 147 (28.4) | 0 | 1 (0.9) | 0 |
Meat/Poultry | 1 (0.2) | 0 | 38 (15.6) | 5 (4.6) | 19 (38.8) |
Fish | 22 (3.9) | 0 | 113 (46.3) | 1 (0.9) | 2 (4.1) |
Eggs | 1 (0.2) | 282 (54.5) | 1 (0.4) | 4 (3.7) | 23 (46.9) |
Milk | 0 | 182 (35.2) | 11 (4.5) | 2 (1.8) | 17 (34.7) |
Water | 1 (0.2) | 63 (12.2) | 2 (0.8) | 5 (4.6) | 10 (20.4) |
Fruit juice | 0 | 187 (36.2) | 5 (2.0) | 9 (8.3) | 12 (24.5) |
Sugar-sweetened beverages | 0 | 238 (46.0) | 75 (30.7) | 12 (11.0) | 28 (57.1) |
Fast-food | 140 (25.0) | 122 (23.6) | 2 (0.8) | 107 (98.2) | 8 (16.3) |
Chips | 17 (3.0) | 493 (95.4) | 3 (1.2) | 4 (3.7) | 13 (26.5) |
Confectionaries | 57 (10.2) | 499 (96.5) | 7 (2.9) | 20 (18.3) | 14 (28.6) |
Proximity to schools n (%) | |||||
Outside of school | 217 (38.8) | 106 (20.5) | 42 (17.2) | 5 (4.6) | 2 (4.1) |
Walking distance < 5 min | 102 (18.2) | 226 (43.7) | 71 (29.1) | 39 (35.8) | 13 (26.5) |
Walking distance > 5 min | 193 (34.4) | 125 (24.2) | 86 (35.2) | 43 (39.4) | 24 (49.0) |
Walking distance > 10 min | 46 (8.2) | 59 (11.4) | 45 (18.4) | 22 (20.2) | 10 (20.4) |
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Carducci, B.; Wasan, Y.; Shakeel, A.; Hussain, A.; Baxter, J.-A.B.; Rizvi, A.; Soofi, S.B.; Bhutta, Z.A. Characterizing Retail Food Environments in Peri-Urban Pakistan during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19, 8614. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19148614
Carducci B, Wasan Y, Shakeel A, Hussain A, Baxter J-AB, Rizvi A, Soofi SB, Bhutta ZA. Characterizing Retail Food Environments in Peri-Urban Pakistan during the COVID-19 Pandemic. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2022; 19(14):8614. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19148614
Chicago/Turabian StyleCarducci, Bianca, Yaqub Wasan, Agha Shakeel, Amjad Hussain, Jo-Anna B. Baxter, Arjumand Rizvi, Sajid B. Soofi, and Zulfiqar A. Bhutta. 2022. "Characterizing Retail Food Environments in Peri-Urban Pakistan during the COVID-19 Pandemic" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 19, no. 14: 8614. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19148614
APA StyleCarducci, B., Wasan, Y., Shakeel, A., Hussain, A., Baxter, J.-A. B., Rizvi, A., Soofi, S. B., & Bhutta, Z. A. (2022). Characterizing Retail Food Environments in Peri-Urban Pakistan during the COVID-19 Pandemic. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(14), 8614. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19148614