Open AccessSupermarket Sales Data: Feasibility and Applicability in Population Food and Nutrition Monitoring
Author(s) -
Tin Sandar Tin,
Mhurchu Clioi,
Bullen Chris
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
nutrition reviews
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.958
H-Index - 150
eISSN - 1753-4887
pISSN - 0029-6643
DOI - 10.1111/j.1753-4887.2007.tb00264.x
Subject(s) - population , business , environmental health , food supply , food science , environmental science , medicine , biology , agricultural science
Population food and nutrition monitoring plays a critical role in understanding suboptimal nutrition at the population level, yet current monitoring methods such as national surveys are not practical to undertake on a continuous basis. Supermarket sales data potentially address this gap by providing detailed, timely, and inexpensive monitoring data for informing policies and anticipating trends. This paper reviews 22 studies that used supermarket sales data to examine food purchasing patterns. Despite some methodological limitations, feasibility studies showed promising results. The potential and limitations of using supermarket sales data to supplement food and nutrition monitoring methods are discussed