Abstract
Objective
To evaluate evidence regarding grocery store tours as an effective nutrition education
medium for improving nutrition knowledge and food-related behaviors.
Design
A systematic literature review of studies published from 1984 to 2015 concerning grocery
store (or supermarket) tours and impact on nutrition knowledge and behaviors. Three
investigators independently reviewed articles, extracted details, and assessed the
quality of each study.
Results
Of 307 citations identified, 8 were reviewed and 6 were of neutral quality. Increases
in nutrition knowledge were reported in 4 studies, as evaluated by investigator-designed
quizzes, with short intervals between tours and assessments. Six programs assessed
behavior change using subjective reports or objective purchasing behavior measures;
2 studies did not perform statistical analyses. The 6 studies that reported positive
health-related outcomes had varying topics, tour lengths, and target audiences.
Conclusions and Implications
Grocery store tours are increasingly used as an avenue for nutrition education to
improve knowledge and/or alter food selection behaviors and may result in positive
outcomes, but it is unknown whether these outcomes persist for longer than 3 months
after the tour and whether there are common attributes of effective grocery store
tours. More rigorous studies with uniform methodology in study design and outcome
measures are needed to confirm the effectiveness of supermarket tours.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: July 13, 2016
Accepted:
May 28,
2016
Footnotes
Conflict of Interest Disclosure: The authors' conflict of interest disclosures can be found online with this article on www.jneb.org.
Identification
Copyright
©2016 Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. Published by Elsevier, Inc. All rights reserved.
