BACKGROUND: Inadequate availability of healthy foods may be a barrier to achieving recommended diets. OBJECTIVE: The objective was to study the association between the directly measured availability of healthy foods and diet quality. DESIGN: We conducted a cross-sectional study of 759 participants from the Baltimore site of the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis. Diet was characterized by using a food-frequency questionnaire and summarized by using 2 empirically derived dietary patterns reflecting low- and high-quality diets. For each participant, the availability of healthy foods was directly assessed by using 3 measures: in all food stores within their census tract, in their closest food store, and in all food stores within 1 mile (1.6 km) of their residence. RESULTS: Twenty-four percent of the black participants lived in neighborhoods with a low availability of healthy food compared with 5% of white participants (P < 0.01). After adjustment for age, sex, income, and education, a lower availability of healthy foods in the tract of residence or in the closest store was associated with higher scores on the low-quality dietary pattern (P < 0.05). Less consistent associations were observed for the high-quality dietary pattern. CONCLUSIONS: Healthy foods were less available for black participants. Low availability of healthy foods was associated with a lower-quality diet. The extent to which improvements in the availability of healthy foods results in higher-quality diets deserves further investigation.
BACKGROUND: Inadequate availability of healthy foods may be a barrier to achieving recommended diets. OBJECTIVE: The objective was to study the association between the directly measured availability of healthy foods and diet quality. DESIGN: We conducted a cross-sectional study of 759 participants from the Baltimore site of the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis. Diet was characterized by using a food-frequency questionnaire and summarized by using 2 empirically derived dietary patterns reflecting low- and high-quality diets. For each participant, the availability of healthy foods was directly assessed by using 3 measures: in all food stores within their census tract, in their closest food store, and in all food stores within 1 mile (1.6 km) of their residence. RESULTS: Twenty-four percent of the black participants lived in neighborhoods with a low availability of healthy food compared with 5% of white participants (P < 0.01). After adjustment for age, sex, income, and education, a lower availability of healthy foods in the tract of residence or in the closest store was associated with higher scores on the low-quality dietary pattern (P < 0.05). Less consistent associations were observed for the high-quality dietary pattern. CONCLUSIONS: Healthy foods were less available for black participants. Low availability of healthy foods was associated with a lower-quality diet. The extent to which improvements in the availability of healthy foods results in higher-quality diets deserves further investigation.
Authors: F M Sacks; L P Svetkey; W M Vollmer; L J Appel; G A Bray; D Harsha; E Obarzanek; P R Conlin; E R Miller; D G Simons-Morton; N Karanja; P H Lin Journal: N Engl J Med Date: 2001-01-04 Impact factor: 91.245
Authors: E J Mayer-Davis; M Z Vitolins; S L Carmichael; S Hemphill; G Tsaroucha; J Rushing; S Levin Journal: Ann Epidemiol Date: 1999-07 Impact factor: 3.797
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Authors: Shannon N Zenk; Angela M Odoms-Young; Constance Dallas; Elaine Hardy; April Watkins; Jacqueline Hoskins-Wroten; Loys Holland Journal: Health Educ Behav Date: 2011-04-21
Authors: Betty T Izumi; Shannon N Zenk; Amy J Schulz; Graciela B Mentz; Sharon L Sand; Ricardo F de Majo; Christine Wilson; Angela Odoms-Young Journal: J Urban Health Date: 2012-06 Impact factor: 3.671
Authors: Lisa A Cooper; L Ebony Boulware; Edgar R Miller; Sherita Hill Golden; Kathryn A Carson; Gary Noronha; Mary Margaret Huizinga; Debra L Roter; Hsin-Chieh Yeh; Lee R Bone; David M Levine; Felicia Hill-Briggs; Jeanne Charleston; Miyong Kim; Nae-Yuh Wang; Hanan Aboumatar; Jennifer P Halbert; Patti L Ephraim; Frederick L Brancati Journal: Am J Public Health Date: 2013-09-12 Impact factor: 9.308