Stella S Yi1, Rienna G Russo1, Bian Liu2,3, Susan Kum4, Pasquale Rummo1, Yan Li2. 1. Department of Population Health, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY10016, USA. 2. Department of Population Health Science and Policy, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA. 3. Department of Environmental Medicine & Public Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA. 4. New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, New York, NY, USA.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: The food retail environment is an important determinant of food access and the ability to achieve a healthy diet. However, immigrant communities may procure their food in different ways than the mainstream population owing to preferences for specific cultural products or limited English language proficiency. The objective of this analysis was to describe the grocery shopping patterns and behaviours of one of the largest immigrant groups in New York City, Chinese Americans - a group experiencing high poverty and cardio-metabolic disparities. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey data. SETTING: Community-based sample. PARTICIPANTS: Self-identified Chinese Americans in the New York metropolitan area (n 239). RESULTS: Three shopping patterns were identified: type 1: shopped weekly at an ethnic grocery store - and nowhere else; type 2: shopped weekly at a non-ethnic grocery store, with occasional shopping at an ethnic store and type 3: did not perform weekly shopping. Type 1 v. type 2 shoppers tended to have lower education levels (37·5 v. 78·0 % with college degree); to be on public insurance (57·6 v. 22·8 %); speak English less well (18·4 v. 41·4 %); be food insecure (47·2 v. 24·2 %; P < 0·01 for all) and to travel nearly two miles further to shop at their primary grocery store (β = -1·55; 95 % CI -2·81, -0·30). DISCUSSION: There are distinct grocery shopping patterns amongst urban-dwelling Chinese Americans corresponding to demographic and sociocultural factors that may help inform health interventions in this understudied group. Similar patterns may exist among other immigrant groups, lending preliminary support for an alternative conceptualisation of how immigrant communities interact with the food retail environment.
OBJECTIVE: The food retail environment is an important determinant of food access and the ability to achieve a healthy diet. However, immigrant communities may procure their food in different ways than the mainstream population owing to preferences for specific cultural products or limited English language proficiency. The objective of this analysis was to describe the grocery shopping patterns and behaviours of one of the largest immigrant groups in New York City, Chinese Americans - a group experiencing high poverty and cardio-metabolic disparities. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey data. SETTING: Community-based sample. PARTICIPANTS: Self-identified Chinese Americans in the New York metropolitan area (n 239). RESULTS: Three shopping patterns were identified: type 1: shopped weekly at an ethnic grocery store - and nowhere else; type 2: shopped weekly at a non-ethnic grocery store, with occasional shopping at an ethnic store and type 3: did not perform weekly shopping. Type 1 v. type 2 shoppers tended to have lower education levels (37·5 v. 78·0 % with college degree); to be on public insurance (57·6 v. 22·8 %); speak English less well (18·4 v. 41·4 %); be food insecure (47·2 v. 24·2 %; P < 0·01 for all) and to travel nearly two miles further to shop at their primary grocery store (β = -1·55; 95 % CI -2·81, -0·30). DISCUSSION: There are distinct grocery shopping patterns amongst urban-dwelling Chinese Americans corresponding to demographic and sociocultural factors that may help inform health interventions in this understudied group. Similar patterns may exist among other immigrant groups, lending preliminary support for an alternative conceptualisation of how immigrant communities interact with the food retail environment.
Authors: Rienna G Russo; Shahmir H Ali; Tamar Adjoian Mezzacca; Ashley Radee; Stella Chong; Julie Kranick; Felice Tsui; Victoria Foster; Simona C Kwon; Stella S Yi Journal: BMC Public Health Date: 2022-04-18 Impact factor: 4.135
Authors: Rienna G Russo; Yan Li; Lan N Ðoàn; Shahmir H Ali; David Siscovick; Simona C Kwon; Stella S Yi Journal: J Am Heart Assoc Date: 2021-12-10 Impact factor: 6.106