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Baltimore Healthy Stores is an intervention trial working with food stores in Baltimore City to increase the availability of healthy foods and promote them at the point of purchase. Many small stores in low income areas of urban centers are owned by Korean-Americans. Based on formative research, the program was implemented in 13 Korean American owned corner stores (7 intervention, 6 comparison). Intervention and evaluation components for stores owners were conducted in Korean. Intervention materials included cultural guidelines, store owner guidelines, nutrition education and incentives which focused on educating store owners to run a profitable store with healthier food choices by increasing their knowledge and cultural understanding of the target customer population. Sales of promoted foods were increased in intervention stores when compared with those in control stores, including: low-in sugar cereals (+42.3% vs. +7.3%), high fiber cereals (+6.1% vs. -7.9%) lower fat milk (+7.1% vs. -66.7%) and cooking spray (+142.9% vs. -2.8%). Corner store owners found the program to be acceptable and potentially effective, but felt it needed to be continued into the future to show health impact. Store WIC participation, agreement of spouses, space and customer demand were seen as determinants of continued participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Baltimore Healthy Stores (BHS) is a food store-based program aimed at increasing healthy food availability and access in Baltimore food stores. The program was implemented in 5 themed phases in 2 supermarkets and 7 corner stores in East Baltimore and included stocking of healthier foods, shelf labels, posters, taste tests, and distribution of flyers and giveaways. Process data were collected in all nine stores. An average of 32 process evaluation store visits were conducted per phase and 19 taste test/cooking demonstrations were observed per phase. Phase 1 (low sugar cereals and lowfat milk) had moderate fidelity (73% available during the phase). Phase 2 (cooking spray) had high fidelity (100% available). Phase 3 (healthy snacks and fruits) had moderate to high fidelity (fruits available 73-98%, 89% stores had 1+ promoted snacks available). Phase 4 had low to moderate fidelity with whole wheat bread available only 52% of the time. Shelf label fidelity had wide variation, ranging from 18-86 % with a mean of 49% accurate labeling of promoted foods. Posters associated with each phase had moderate fidelity, and were posted 72.5% of the time. Process data provide insight that can help improve the implementation of the next round of the BHS program which will expand to additional stores and community settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]