Preventing Chronic Disease | Lack of Healthy Food Options on Children’s Menus of Restaurants in the Health-Disparate Dan River Region of Virginia and North Carolina, 2013 - CDC
Lack of Healthy Food Options on Children’s Menus of Restaurants in the Health-Disparate Dan River Region of Virginia and North Carolina, 2013
Jennie L. Hill, PhD; Nicole C. Olive, MS; Clarice N. Waters, PhD; Paul A. Estabrooks, PhD; Wen You, PhD; Jamie M. Zoellner, PhD, RD
Suggested citation for this article: Hill JL, Olive NC, Waters CN, Estabrooks PA, You W, Zoellner JM. Lack of Healthy Food Options on Children’s Menus of Restaurants in the Health-Disparate Dan River Region of Virginia and North Carolina, 2013. Prev Chronic Dis 2015;12:140400. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5888/pcd12.140400
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Abstract
Introduction
Interest has increased in understanding the types and healthfulness of restaurant foods for children, particularly in disadvantaged areas. The purpose of this community-based participatory research study was to describe the quality of restaurant food offered to children in a health-disparate region in Virginia and North Carolina and to determine if the availability of healthy foods differed by location (rural, urban) or by the predominant race (black, white, mixed race) of an area’s population.
Interest has increased in understanding the types and healthfulness of restaurant foods for children, particularly in disadvantaged areas. The purpose of this community-based participatory research study was to describe the quality of restaurant food offered to children in a health-disparate region in Virginia and North Carolina and to determine if the availability of healthy foods differed by location (rural, urban) or by the predominant race (black, white, mixed race) of an area’s population.
Methods
Restaurants offering a children’s menu in the 3 counties in Virginia and North Carolina that make up the Dan River Region were identified by using state health department records. Research assistants reviewed menus using the Children’s Menu Assessment (CMA), a tool consisting of 29 scored items (possible score range, −4 to 21). Scores were calculated for each restaurant. We obtained information on the predominant race of the population at the block group level for all counties from 2010 US Census data.
Restaurants offering a children’s menu in the 3 counties in Virginia and North Carolina that make up the Dan River Region were identified by using state health department records. Research assistants reviewed menus using the Children’s Menu Assessment (CMA), a tool consisting of 29 scored items (possible score range, −4 to 21). Scores were calculated for each restaurant. We obtained information on the predominant race of the population at the block group level for all counties from 2010 US Census data.
Results
For the 137 restaurants studied, mean CMA scores were low (mean, 1.6; standard deviation [SD], 2.7), ranging from −4 to 9 of 21 possible points. Scores were lowest for restaurants in the predominantly black block groups (mean, 0.2; SD, 0.4) and significantly different from the scores for restaurants in the predominantly white (mean, 1.4; SD, 1.6) and mixed-race block groups (mean, 2.6; SD, 2.4) (F = 4.3;P < .05).
For the 137 restaurants studied, mean CMA scores were low (mean, 1.6; standard deviation [SD], 2.7), ranging from −4 to 9 of 21 possible points. Scores were lowest for restaurants in the predominantly black block groups (mean, 0.2; SD, 0.4) and significantly different from the scores for restaurants in the predominantly white (mean, 1.4; SD, 1.6) and mixed-race block groups (mean, 2.6; SD, 2.4) (F = 4.3;P < .05).
Conclusion
Children’s menus available in the Dan River Region lack healthy food options, particularly in predominantly black block groups. These study findings can contribute to regional efforts in policy development or environmental interventions for children’s food quality by the community-based participatory research partnership and help local stakeholders to determine possible strategies and solutions for improving local food options for children.
Children’s menus available in the Dan River Region lack healthy food options, particularly in predominantly black block groups. These study findings can contribute to regional efforts in policy development or environmental interventions for children’s food quality by the community-based participatory research partnership and help local stakeholders to determine possible strategies and solutions for improving local food options for children.
Acknowledgments
This work was funded in part by the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth and Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. We acknowledge and thank the members of the Dan River Partnership for a Healthy Community for their contributions to this project and ongoing support. The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Author Information
Corresponding Author: Jennie L. Hill, PhD, Assistant Professor, Virginia Tech, Human Nutrition, Foods and Exercise, Integrated Life Sciences Building 23, Room 1033 (0913), 1981 Kraft Drive, Blacksburg, VA 24061. Telephone: 540-231-5104. Email: hilljl@vt.edu.
Author Affiliations: Nicole C. Olive, Paul A. Estabrooks, Wen You, Jamie M. Zoellner, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia; Clarice N. Waters, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
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