(Credit: Jason Paris, flickr.com).

(Credit: Jason Paris, flickr.com).

Researchers have found a relationship between the median income and soft drink purchases in Montreal.

Researchers used records from scanning equipment at grocery store checkout lines to track soft drink purchases in various Montreal neighbourhoods. They found that for every $10,000 decline in the local median income there was a five-fold increase in soft drink purchases.

Tracking tools like those used by the researchers could help public health agencies design ‘healthy eating’ campaigns.

Original research paper first published in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences on February 14, 2014.

Names and affiliations of selected authors

David Buckeridge, Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, McGill University