OSF Preprints
Using Retail-Related Data to Understand Ethnic Inequalities in Food Purchasing and Obesity: A Scoping Review
By Diederik De Cock and Xingxing Tian.
Abstract
Objective
The aim of this scoping review is to map how retail-related data are used to investigate racial and ethnic disparities in obesity, with a particular focus on the roles of food purchasing patterns, retail food environment indicators, and socioeconomic and immigration-related factors.
Introduction
Retail transaction data and retail food environment data provide complementary information on observed food purchases and associated retail-related risks. However, these evidence have largely been studied in isolation, and it remains unclear how their data sources, measurements, and analytical methods are utilized to investigate social inequalities and obesity-related outcomes. Inclusion criteria: The studies included in this scoping review may focus on individuals, households, or populations at the regional level; they must utilize retail transaction data or retail-related food environment indicators to analyze diet- or obesity-related outcomes. Studies examining disparities related to ethnicity, race, immigrant background, or socioeconomic status will be highlighted in the report. Studies relying solely on self-reported dietary intake data will be excluded.