Cheap supermarkets 'may boost your BMI and waist circumference'

Washington, Apr 5 (ANI): Your supermarket may affect your weight, a new study has claimed.

The study, conducted in Paris from 2007 to 2008, found that participants who shop at discount supermarkets, in supermarkets in areas with poorly educated consumers, or in supermarkets far from their own neighbourhood had higher body mass indices (BMI) and waste circumferences.

"Shopping at discount supermarkets was more strongly associated with higher body weight and abdominal fat among low educated than among high educated participants," Basile Chaix, the study leader from of INSERM in France, said.

Supermarket size and produce quality, on the other hand, were not correlated with either BMI or waist circumference.

Previous work of this type has largely focused on general neighbourhood characteristics instead of specific personal behaviour, but the current study, which included 7,131 participants, revealed that only 11.4 percent shopped for food primarily in their residential neighbourhood.

This result emphasizes the importance of evaluating people personal food environments.

The authors of the study concluded that supermarkets may be a useful site for public health interventions to change food purchasing behaviour.

The study has been published in the journal PLoS ONE. (ANI)