A Community-Based, Participatory, Multi-Component Intervention Increased Sales of Healthy Foods in Local Supermarkets—The Health and Local Community Project (SoL)

Abstract

Project SoL was a 19-month (September 2012 to April 2014) community-based multi-component intervention based on the supersetting approach that was designed to promote healthier eating and physical activity among children and their families. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of a multi-component intervention (level 1) and a mass media intervention alone (level 2) compared to a control area (level 3) on food sales. The design was quasi-experimental. Weekly sales data for all Coop supermarkets in the intervention and control areas were analysed via longitudinal linear mixed-effects analyses. Significant increases in the sales of fish (total) (29%; p = 0.003), canned fish (31%; p = 0.025) and oatmeal (31%; p = 0.003) were found for the level 1 intervention area compared to the control area. In the level 2 intervention area, significant increases in the sales of vegetables (total) (17%; p = 0.038), fresh vegetables (20%; p = 0.01), dried fruit (51%; p = 0.022), oatmeal (19%; p = 0.008) and wholegrain pasta (58%; p = 0.0007) were found compared to the control area. The sales of canned fish increased by 30% in the level 1 area compared to the level 2 area (p = 0.025). This study demonstrated significant increases in the sales of healthy foods, both in the areas with multi-component and mass media interventions alone compared to the control area.