Peer-reviewed article
Supermarket food purchases and child nutrition in Kenya
Bethelhem Legesse Debela, Kathrin Demmler, Stephan Klasen, Matin Qaim ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined how supermarket food shopping affects child nutrition in urban Kenya using panel data. Children in households that purchased food from supermarkets had better height-for-age, weight-for-age, and weight-for-height measurements compared to those buying from traditional markets. The improvements were driven by greater food variety and dietary diversity, and supermarkets were not associated with childhood obesity in this setting.
Key points
- Supermarket food purchases increased child height-for-age Z-scores more than weight measures
- Effects were channeled through improvements in food variety and dietary diversity
- Supermarkets were not a driver of childhood obesity in urban Kenya
- Child stunting remains a major nutritional problem in the setting
- The study used panel data from urban Kenya
Limitations
The study focused only on urban Kenya and cannot tell us whether effects would differ in rural areas or other countries with different supermarket environments and food systems. It does not establish whether the improvements are sustained over time or what specific foods purchased at supermarkets drove the nutritional gains.
Abstract
In many developing countries, supermarkets are spreading rapidly, complementing and partly replacing traditional food markets and grocery stores. Changing retail environments can affect consumer diets and nutritional outcomes. Previous research suggested that supermarkets may contribute to rising rates of obesity. However, most existing research looked at adult populations. Here, we analyze effects of supermarkets on child nutrition with panel data from urban Kenya. Buying food in supermarkets increases child height-for-age, weight-for-age, and weight-for-height Z-scores. The effects on child height are larger than the effects on weight, which is a welcome finding because child stunting (low height-for-age) remains a major nutritional problem that is declining more slowly than child underweight. Supermarkets do not seem to be a driver of childhood obesity in this setting. The positive effects of supermarkets on child nutrition are channeled through improvements in food variety and dietary diversity.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- Access to and purchasing of food from supermarkets rather than traditional markets
- Population
- Children in urban Kenya
Key finding
Supermarket purchases increased child height-for-age Z-scores