United Supermarkets and Texas Tech Team Up For Cancer Research

United Supermarkets, along with Texas Tech University and Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, announced a public-private partnership to fund cancer prevention research in rural communities. The partnership aims to develop, implement and evaluate a multi-tiered approach to enhance primary cancer prevention and help cancer survivors reduce the risk of cancer recurrence. The goal of the project is to substantially prevent cancer and cancer recurrences in one rural community—Muleshoe, Texas.  If successful, this project will develop a feasible intervention program which could be replicated and enable other small, rural communities to successfully address multiple cancer risks and ultimately reduce the cancer incidence within the community. Through collaboration with United, based in Lubbock, Texas, participants will be exposed to cancer prevention educational materials emphasizing nutrient rich, cancer-preventing foods. Additionally, food demonstrations and consumer education classes that focus on cancer risk factors, cancer prevention and the importance of appropriate preventive actions (e.g. cancer screenings) will be conducted at United locations and other community venues. “United Supermarkets is very excited to be part of this important research study. We strive to make a positive impact on our guests’ lives every day and, through this partnership with the Texas Tech Health Sciences Center, we will be actively working to reduce cancer risks and change behaviors in our very own community,” said Tyra M. Carter, PhD, RD, LD, corporate dietitian for United Supermarkets, LLC. The project aims to address the most preventable sources of cancer—obesity, tobacco use and sunburn. Randomly selected participants will be evaluated through repeated measurements of body mass index (BMI) and blood pressure levels, combined with an analysis of the participants’ three-day food records, supermarket sales records and survey data assessing health status and cancer-preventing related behaviors. Additionally, behavior changes in both the type and frequency of sunburn prevention practices and tobacco product usage will be monitored. It is funded by the Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) and runs through February 2013. For more information, visit www.unitedtexas.com.