Abstract
SETTING: The majority of Canadians’ food acquisition occurs in retail stores. Retail science has become increasingly sophisticated in demonstrating how consumer environments influence population-level diet quality and health status. The retail food environment literature is new but growing rapidly in Canada, and there is a relative paucity of evidence from intervention research implemented in Canada.
INTERVENTION: The healthy cornerstore model is a comprehensive complex population health intervention in small retail stores, intended to transform an existing business model to a health-promoting one through intersectoral collaboration. Healthy corner store interventions typically involve conversions of existing stores with the participation of health, community, and business sector partners, addressing business fundamentals, merchandising, and consumer demand.
OUTCOMES: This article introduces pioneering experiences with the healthy corner store intervention in Canada. First, we offer a brief overview of the state of evidence within and outside Canada. Second, we discuss three urban and one rural healthy corner store initiatives, led through partnerships among community food security organizations, public health units, academics, and business partners, in Manitoba, Ontario, and Newfoundland and Labrador. Third, we synthesize the promising practices from these local examples, including aspects of both intervention science (e.g., refinements in measuring the food environment) and community-based practice (e.g., dealing with unhealthy food items and economic impact for the retailer).
IMPLICATIONS: This article will synthesize practical experiences with healthy corner stores in Canada. It offers a baseline assessment of promising aspects of this intervention for health and health equity, and identifies opportunities to strengthen both science and practice in this area of retail food environment work.
Key Words: Food supply, diet, food, and nutrition, environment and public health, health promotion
Résumé
LIEU: La majorité des Canadiens achètent de la nourriture dans des magasins de détail. La science du commerce de détail parvient à démontrer de plus en plus habilement que les environnements de consommation influencent la qualité de l’alimentation et l’état de santé des populations. Au Canada, la littérature sur les environnements alimentaires de vente au détail est jeune; bien qu’elle se développe rapidement, relativement peu de données probantes issues de la recherche d’intervention sont mises en application au pays.
INTERVENTION: Le modèle des « dépanneurs-santé », une intervention en santé des populations à la fois globale et complexe appliquée dans de petits magasins de détail, vise à transformer par la collaboration intersectorielle le modèle d’entreprise existant en un modèle qui favorise la santé. L’intervention consiste généralement à convertir des magasins existants avec l’aide de partenaires du milieu de la santé, du milieu associatif et du monde des affaires, en tenant compte des principes fondamentaux du commerce, du marchandisage et de la demande des consommateurs.
RÉSULTATS: Nous présentons ici les expériences pionnières de l’intervention des dépanneurs-santé au Canada. Nous décrivons d’abord brièvement l’état des connaissances au Canada et à l’étranger. Nous analysons ensuite trois initiatives urbaines et une initiative rurale de dépanneurs-santé, menées au Manitoba, en Ontario, et à Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador à la faveur de partenariats entre des associations locales pour la sécurité alimentaire, des bureaux de santé publique, des universitaires et des entreprises. Enfin, nous résumons les pratiques prometteuses de ces exemples locaux, tant du point de vue scientifique (p. ex. les améliorations apportées à la mesure de l’environnement alimentaire) que sur le terrain (p. ex. quoi faire avec les produits alimentaires malsains et comment composer avec les retombées économiques pour le détaillant).
CONSÉQUENCES: Nous faisons ici la synthèse d’expériences pratiques d’établissement de dépanneurs-santé au Canada. Nous offrons une évaluation préliminaire des aspects prometteurs de cette intervention sur le plan de la santé et de l’équité en santé, et nous cernons les possibilités de renforcer à la fois la science et la pratique du travail sur les environnements alimentaires de vente au détail.
Mots Clés: approvisionnement en nourriture, alimentation et nutrition, environnement et santé publique, promotion de la santé
Footnotes
Acknowledgements: This work was supported in part by Health Canada’s Office of Nutrition Policy and Promotion [MOA #4500327812 to NM, CM and KJ]; the Public Health Agency of Canada [MoA #4500308919 to BC, LM and CM]; the Canadian Institutes of Health Research [FRN PG1-144782 to CM, LM and BC]; and the Canadian Cancer Society [FRN 704744 to LM].
Conflict of Interest: None to declare.
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