Barriers to buying healthy foods for people with diabetes: Evidence of environmental disparities

Objectives. A community coalition compared the availability and cost of diabetes-healthy foods in a racial/ethnic minority neighborhood in East Harlem, with those in the adjacent, largely White and affluent Upper East Side in New York City. Methods. We documented which of 173 East Harlem and 152 Upper East Side grocery stores stocked 5 recommended foods. Results. Overall, 18% of East Harlem stores stocked recommended foods, compared with 58% of stores in the Upper East Side (P<.0001). Only 9% of East Harlem bodegas (neighborhood stores) carried all items (vs 48% of Upper East Side bodegas), though East Harlem had more bodegas. East Harlem residents were more likely than Upper East Side residents (50% vs 24%) to have stores on their block that did not stock recommended foods and less likely (26% vs 30%) to have stores on their block that stocked recommended foods. Conclusions. A greater effort needs to be made to make available stores that carry diabetes-healthy foods.