While consumers may save a few bucks on groceries at dollar stores, they end up paying a higher price with their health. New UC Riverside research shows a link between dollar store food quality and higher rates of obesity, high blood pressure, cholesterol, and type 2 diabetes.
Conversely, the study published in BMC Public Health links traditional grocery store access to better health metrics. These results held across the U.S., even accounting for factors including income and unemployment levels.
However, at present, the census designates dollar stores as general merchandise outlets, rather than grocery stores, so they are often not included in studies relating to food consumption.
“I want to raise awareness that higher grocery costs are pushing people to buy highly processed, lower quality food at dollar stores, and it is negatively impacting their health in a similar way to fast food,” said Ryan Bruellman, UCR genetics, genomics & bioinformatics doctoral student and study first author.
Bruellman started this study with a general curiosity about unconventional grocery outlets. To understand their impact on customers’ health, he looked at data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 500 Cities Project. The project covers the largest continental American metro areas and cities, including the greater Los Angeles and Inland Empire areas.
The dollar stores in the study included Dollar General, Dollar Tree, the 99 Cent store, and Family Dollar. Together, they represent a total of 34,000 locations.
“Across the U.S. there are more dollar stores than traditional grocery stores,” Bruellman said.
Bruellman used software called ArcGIS, which lets people map data and analyze how things are distributed across geographic areas. A GIS system combines ordinary data like numbers, categories, and measurements with geographic locations so you can see patterns on a map.
In this case, he used it to map how many of these stores were within a 10-minute drive of residential areas. He combined this with a social vulnerability index in his calculations. The higher this metric is, the more issues people have affording groceries.
Across all regions, the dollar stores had a significant effect on consumer health, but the effects were not uniform. In the South and the Midwest, the ratio of dollar stores to traditional grocery stores was roughly 50/50. “I think the sheer number of dollar stores in these regions is higher so their influence is greater,” Bruellman said.
Additionally, Bruellman said the results varied across different cities. In some places, like Philadelphia, he said the data was not able to capture the influence of bodegas or smaller independent grocery stores. However, their presence likely lessened the impacts of dollar store grocery shopping.
It is the quality of the food, not its price, that is the cause of the health problems associated with their purchase. Bruellman says the solution is not having fewer dollar stores. Rather, policymakers could look at a variety of options to improve quality.
These stores could form partnerships with local farmers to increase the amount of fresh fruits and vegetables on offer. “Ideally you’d have the healthier options available inside the dollar store,” Bruellman said.
For stores uninterested in such partnerships, it might be possible for cities to encourage more local farmers markets and food banks. “Traditionally, famers markets are often in areas that are farther from dollar stores. Placing them closer to the stores, meeting people where they are could improve access,” he said.
Ultimately, Bruellman hopes this study will encourage lawmakers to consider expanding people’s access to healthier food options.
“The overarching thing is we shouldn’t think of traditional grocery stores as the only places to get food. People need to look beyond that,” Bruellman said.
(Cover image: Ines Fraile/iStock/Getty)
