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Project Summary

A combination of social factors, increasingly known as the Social Determinants of Health (SDOH), are thought to be responsible for 80 to 90 percent of a person’s health status.(13) With food and nutrition being one of the six main determinants of health, understanding the process by which food choices are made is essential in order to address health outcomes closely associated with diet. Published data already show that, whereas the rates of obesity and Type 2 Diabetes are 20-25% amongst residents of Princeton, they are 45-50% amongst the residents of Trenton. The actual diets consumed by the residents of these two communities, and the different food choice processes that result in those diets are not as well understood. This project is intended to ll that gap. It is hypothesized that the different rates of obesity and Type 2 Diabetes seen in the two communities result from different food choice processes, which then lead to different diets. A survey, which collects information on the food choice decision-making process, will be distributed to approximately 150 residents in Trenton and an equal number in Princeton. Purchasing data will be collected from grocery stores in order to understand the differences between the diets consumed in both communities. The nutritional content of the diets will be analyzed utilizing an online USDA nutrient database.

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