A Systematic Review of the Effectiveness of Supermarket-Based Interventions Involving Product, Promotion, or Place on the Healthiness of Consumer Purchases

Abstract

Introduction: The supermarket is increasingly recognised as a key environment to promote healthy eating. No previous reviews have focused specifically on the effectiveness of interventions that target the in-store supermarket environment for improving the healthiness of population food purchases. Methods: Systematic review of supermarket-based interventions related to nutrition. Interventions were included if they related to the type of products available for sale, promotion or consumer education and/or product placement. Interventions related to price and on-pack labelling were excluded. Outcomes included food purchasing, food consumption or body weight. Study quality was assessed using the Effective Public Health Practice Project quality assessment tool. Results: Of 50 included studies, the majority were conducted in the USA (74 %), with 33 % published in the last 3 years. Seventy percent of studies were rated as moderate (n = 11) or high (n= 24) quality. Positive effects were observed in 35 studies (70 %). Of the 15 studies that reported null or negative findings, most (n = 12) did not have a strong study design, large sample size or duration longer than 1 month. Conclusions: Most high-quality studies targeting the supermarket food environment reported improvements in the healthiness of consumer purchases in response to the intervention. Although it is difficult to identify specific intervention options that are likely to be most effective and sustainable in this setting, shelf labelling (particularly using nutrition summary scores) stands out as being particularly promising.