THE AVAILABILITY OF LOW-FAT MILK IN AN INNER-CITY LATINO COMMUNITY - IMPLICATIONS FOR NUTRITION EDUCATION

Substitution of low-fat for whole milk is an important strategy for re ducing saturated fat consumption, but intake of whole milk remains hig h among Latinos. To assess whether this is related to the unavailabili ty of low-fat milk, we surveyed 251 grocery stores (bodegas) and 25 su permarkets in a predominantly low-income, urban Latino community. Low- fat milk was available in 73% of bodegas and 96% of supermarkets, but it constituted only 15% of total milk volume in bodegas and 37% of tha t volume in supermarkets. Since lack of availability was not a major o bstacle to increasing low-fat milk consumption, public health nutritio n campaigns should focus on increasing consumer demand.