Ecological and socioeconomic correlates of fruit, juice, and vegetable consumption among African-American boys

Background. Investigators have reported that the availability of foods in l ocal grocery stores correlated with consumption when using large geopolitic al units of analysis, e,g,, zip codes. Associations across smaller geopolit ical units, e,g,, census tracts, have not been tested, nor has this work fo cused on restaurant availability, child consumption, or specific ethnic gro ups. Methods. This study examined whether median family income and fruit, juice, and vegetable (FJV) availability in grocery stores, restaurants, and homes in 11 census tracts correlated with FJV consumption among 11- to 14-year-o ld African-American Boy Scouts. FJV consumption was measured in 90 scouts u sing two 24h food recalls. Instruments were developed to measure the availa bility of FJV at area grocery stores, restaurants, and homes where troop me mbers resided. Results, Median household income (from 1990 census) was significantly corre lated with restaurant fruit availability. Significant correlations were fou nd between restaurant juice and vegetable availability and Boy Scout report ed consumption of juice and vegetables. Conclusion. Census tract may be a useful unit when studying restaurant, but not grocery store, FJV availability, Within a census tract, restaurant FJV availability may be a significant target for community intervention and pr ocess evaluation. (C) 2001 American Health Foundation and Academic Press.