Convenience store proximity and student snack access at Kelowna high schools

Strategical Location of Convenience Stores Around High Schools for Quick Snacks

Improving students' eating habits is a health promotion priority given the rate of obesity among Canadian youth. Since students spend a substantial amount of their time en route to schools, there has been a growing interest on the way food environment has shaped dietary outcomes of high school students. The British Colombia stakeholders have introduced different provincial initiatives to improve access to healthy food. For example, Sip Smart B.C. Vegetable Snack Program, Action Schools, B.C and School Fruit initiatives have been launched to improve access to healthy nutrition as well as reducing exposure to unhealthy food. Nevertheless, strategic location of convenience stores can assist students to have access to healthy nutrition. In Canada, 31% of Canadian high schools are located approximately one kilometer of a convenience store. (Jennifer, & Meghan, 2012). Despite the importance of the strategic location of convenience stores to the high schools in British Columbia, nevertheless, there are still dearth of studies that investigate the strategic location of convenience stores around high schools at Kelowna in British Columbia. The study attempts to fill the gap by providing insights regarding the methods convenience stores around high schools assist students having quick snacks.

Method of Data Collection

The study collects data from the clerks of convenience stores located around the Rutland Secondary School and Kelowna Secondary School at Kelowna in British Columbia. The Rutland Secondary School is one of the schools at the Central Okanagan School District located at Kelowna in British Columbia, and the school offers different academic programs. The food environment refers to convenience to obtain food, and the convenience includes availability and accessibility of snacks within the school environment. As being revealed in Fig 1, the study uses the GIS (Geographic Information System) to map convenience stores near the Rutland Secondary School by using the Google Map.

Fig 1: Convenience Stores near Rutland Secondary School

"GIS is a computer-based tool for the capture, storage, manipulation, analysis, modelling, retrieval and graphic presentation of spatially referenced information. (Leslie, Coffee, Frank, et al. 2007 p 114).

The GIS uses the software and sophisticated database used to reveal, and locate the hidden patterns using the statistical packages. Typically, the GIS uses the spatial data to develop layers of information that include road networks, shopping center locations, restaurants, and land use. (Leslie, Coffee, Frank, et al. 2007).

The GIS map reveals three convenience stores near the Rutland Secondary School, which are:

Wing N iT Pizza,

Hooligan Hotdogs,

and Divine Feast Catering

Out of the three convenience stores, only Wing N iT Pizza, and Hooligan Hotdogs are located within one kilometer to the school. However, Divine Feast Catering is far away from the school because the Divine Feast Catering is around three kilometers to the school.

Fig 2: Convenience Stores near Kelowna Secondary School.

As being revealed in Fig 2, only Infusion Restaurant is strategically located approximately one and half kilometer to the Kelowna Secondary School. The study uses qualitative technique to collect data from one of the staffs of the Wing N iT Pizza and Infusion Restaurant to enhance a greater understanding on the extent students patronize the convenience stores for the snacks. The paper uses semi-structured interview to collect data from the staffs.

The outcomes of the interview reveal that the stores have been strategical located to the schools to achieve market advantages from school students. The results of the interview reveal the top foods and beverages bought by the students are as follows:

Sandwich

Snacks

Specialty Coffee/

DrinkPop / Drink

Pizza, and Fries.

The strategic locations of the stores make large number of students to visit the stores during the school days to purchase snacks, and other take away food items. The staff of the Wing N iT Pizza affirm that the stores receive large number of students between 12 Noon and 1 P.M, and they purchase snacks from the store during their visits. Common reasons that make student purchasing food and snacks from the store is that the food purchased in the store tastes better and cheaper than food prepared in the schools. A short interview with the two students of Rutland Secondary School reveals that the food prepared at the school cafeteria is not as delicious as the food prepared at the Wing N iT Pizza.

However, the outcome of the interview from the staff of Infusion Restaurant reveals that the store does not receive large number of students from Kelowna Secondary School who purchase snacks from them compared to the student customers received by Wing N iT Pizza. The major reason that makes low number of students' patronizing the Infusion Restaurant is that the store is more far away to the school.

Conclusion

The study investigates the strategic location of convenience stores around the schools at Kelowna in British Columbia. The study reveals that closer the schools to the convenience stores, the more students are likely to purchase snacks from them. Fast food restaurant is particularly popular among adolescents and children in Canada, however, its consumption is associated to negative impacts on health and nutrition. In other words, fast food restaurants surround many high schools, which has been the primary sources of unhealthy beverages and food. In Canada, as students move from primary school to secondary school, their level of consumption increase. However, the method food stores place themselves strategically around high schools affect healthy choice of food of students. Strategically, a community is designed generally to influence access to a choice of healthy food. For example, children attending schools surrounded by 5 or more stores within one kilometer to the school are likely to eat 2.5 times more than their normal eating habits. Thus, the paper suggests that the government should make regulations on the quality of food that convenience stores should sell to students.

Reference

He, M., Tucker, P., Gilliland, J., Irwin, J. D. et al. (2012). The Influence of Local Food Environments on Adolescents' Food Purchasing Behaviors. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 9(4), 1458-1471.

Jennifer, L. B. & Meghan, D. (2012). Availability of Limited Service Food Outlets Surrounding Schools in British Columbia. Canadian Journal of Public Health. 103(4): e255-9.

Leslie, E., Coffee, N., Frank, L. et al. (2007). Walkability of local communities: Using geographic information systems to objectively assess relevant environmental attributes. Health Place. 2007;13:111-122. [PubMed]

Simon, P.A. Kwan, D. Angelescu, A. et al. (2008). Proximity of fast food restaurants to schools: Do neighborhood income and type of school matter? Prev Med. 47(3):284-88.