(P08-011-24) Patterns of Dietary Energy, Macronutrients, and Fiber Purchased in 21 Canadian Arctic Grocery Stores by Inuit-Defined Season and Community Size Level

Objectives: When linked to food composition, grocery sales data can aid population nutrition research, food and health policymaking, and intervention design. We investigated whether, in 21 communities in the Canadian Arctic territory of Nunavut served by a market-dominant grocery chain: (1) energy, macronutrients, and fiber (per capita); macronutrient distributions; and energy density of food and of beverages among groceries sold, and (2) food group contributions to sales of energy and macronutrients, differed across (i) the 6 Inuit-defined seasons and (ii) 5 community size levels.

Methods: Aggregate sales data from February 1, 2013 to July 31, 2019 were acquired, covering 24,463 unique products sold. Each product was matched to its closest equivalent in the Canadian Nutrient File or the United States’ FoodCentral database. Community size levels were Iqaluit (territorial capital) and 4 community size-based quartiles (5 communities each). For Aim 1, analysis of variance tested for statistical significance.

Results: Consumer nutrition outcomes were consistent across Inuit-defined seasons. Energy and macronutrients sold per capita per day tended to be lowest in smaller communities. Energy density was invariably very high. Among 16 total categories, Beverages and Juices & Drinks together comprised more than a fifth of energy and approximately one-third of carbohydrates sold per capita per day in the 20 non-Iqaluit communities.

Conclusions: Food and beverage sales in Nunavut are seasonally consistent and energy-dense. To our knowledge, ours is the first study of nutrient-linked grocery sales data anywhere in the Arctic.

Funding Sources: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (F31ES033114), Yale Center on Climate Change & Health, Yale International Fox Fellowship Program, Whitney & Betty MacMillan Center for International & Area Studies at Yale, Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies, Yale Global Health Initiative, Yale Sustainable Food Program, and P.E.O. International.