UCLA School of Public Health, 61-253 CHS, 650 Charles E, Young Drive S, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
Ital J Pediatr. 2012 Jun 30;38:30. doi: 10.1186/1824-7288-38-30.
In recent years supermarkets and fast food restaurants have been replacing those "wet markets" of independent vendors as the major food sources in urban China. Yet how these food outlets relate to children's nutritional intake remains largely unexplored.
Using a longitudinal survey of households and communities in China, this study examines the effect of the urban built food environment (density of wet markets, density of supermarkets, and density of fast food restaurants) on children's nutritional intake (daily caloric intake, daily carbohydrate intake, daily protein intake, and daily fat intake). Children aged 6-18 (n = 185) living in cities were followed from 2004 to 2006, and difference-in-difference models are used to address the potential issue of omitted variable bias.
Results suggest that the density of wet markets, rather than that of supermarkets, positively predicts children's four dimensions of nutritional intake. In the caloric intake model and the fat intake model, the positive effect of neighborhood wet market density on children's nutritional intake is stronger with children from households of lower income.
With their cheaper prices and/or fresher food supply, wet markets are likely to contribute a substantial amount of nutritional intake for children living nearby, especially those in households with lower socioeconomic status. For health officials and urban planners, this study signals a sign of warning as wet markets are disappearing from urban China's food environment.
近年来，超市和快餐店已经取代了独立摊贩的“湿市场”，成为中国城市的主要食物来源。然而，这些食品店与儿童营养摄入的关系在很大程度上仍未得到探索。
本研究利用中国家庭和社区的纵向调查，考察城市建成食品环境（湿市场密度、超市密度和快餐店密度）对儿童营养摄入（每日热量摄入、每日碳水化合物摄入、每日蛋白质摄入和每日脂肪摄入）的影响。研究对象为 6-18 岁（n=185）居住在城市的儿童，从 2004 年到 2006 年进行了跟踪调查，并使用差异中的差异模型来解决可能存在的遗漏变量偏差问题。
结果表明，湿市场的密度而非超市的密度正向预测儿童营养摄入的四个维度。在热量摄入模型和脂肪摄入模型中，邻里湿市场密度对儿童营养摄入的正向影响在收入较低家庭的儿童中更强。
由于湿市场价格更便宜、食品供应更新鲜，它们可能为附近的儿童提供大量的营养摄入，尤其是那些来自社会经济地位较低家庭的儿童。对于卫生官员和城市规划者来说，本研究表明一个警示信号，因为湿市场正在从中国城市的食品环境中消失。
