Nearness of markets boosts people’s intake of nutritious fruits and vegetables

Black Americans’ fruit and vegetable intake increased by 32 percent for each additional supermarket in the neighborhoods where they lived, according to a new University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Public Health study. White Americans’ fruit and vegetable consumption increased by 11 percent with the presence of one or more supermarket in their neighborhoods, the study showed. “We don’t know why we saw a larger influence of supermarkets on the diets of black Americans compared to white Americans,” said Dr. Kimberly Morland of the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine. “Based on our previous research showing a lack of private transportation in predominately black neighborhoods, we suspect that white Americans may have a larger geographic area in which to select places to patronize.