Food environment

OBJECTIVE: To compare the availability, selection, quality, and price of fresh fruit and vegetables at food stores in four Detroit-area communities: 1) predominately African-American, low socioeconomic position (SEP); 2) racially heterogeneous, low SEP; 3) predominately African-American, middle SEP; and 4) racially heterogeneous, middle SEP.
DESIGN: Cross-sectional observational survey, conducted fall 2002.
SETTING: Detroit, Michigan

 Background
The purpose of this study was to examine whether the characteristics of retail food stores where African-American women shopped mediated the association between their income and intake of fruits and vegetables. Food store characteristics included store type (supermarket, specialty store, limited assortment store, independent grocer), store location (suburbs, city of Detroit), and perceptions of the selection/quality and affordability of fresh produce for sale.

 Objectives. We evaluated the spatial accessibility of large "chain" supermarkets in relation to neighborhood racial composition and poverty.
Methods. We used a geographic information system to measure Manhattan block distance to the nearest supermarket for 869 neighborhoods (census tracts) in metropolitan Detroit. We constructed moving average spatial regression models to adjust for spatial autocorrelation and to test for the effect of modification of percentage African American and percentage poor on distance to the nearest supermarket.

 Background
Little is known about influences on perceptions of neighborhood food environments, despite their relevance for food-shopping behaviors and food choices.
Purpose
This study examined relationships between multilevel factors (neighborhood structure, independently observed neighborhood food environment, individual socioeconomic position) and satisfaction with neighborhood availability of fruits and vegetables.
Methods

 Obesity is a major public health concern in the U.S. As compared to whites, minority populations are disproportionately at risk, with the highest prevalence rates of overweight and obesity occurring among African American women. Although researchers and policymakers argue that environmental approaches have the greatest potential to reverse the rising prevalence of obesity, critical gaps remain in our understanding of the complex mechanisms that underlie the associations between neighborhood food environments and weight status.

 PURPOSE: To examine relationships between the neighborhood food environment and fruit and vegetable intake in a multiethnic urban population.
DESIGN: Analysis of cross-sectional survey and observational data.
SETTING: One hundred forty-six neighborhoods within three large geographic communities of Detroit, Michigan.
SUBJECTS: Probability sample of 919 African-American, Latino, and white adults.

 We examined the availability of fast food restaurants and convenience stores within walking distance (0.5 miles or 805 m) of US public secondary schools. We found that one-third of schools nationwide have at least one fast food restaurant or convenience store within walking distance. In multivariate analyses, schools in the lowest-income versus the highest-income neighborhoods have more fast food restaurants and convenience stores, while schools in African-American versus White neighborhoods generally have fewer food outlets.