The association between neighborhood economic hardship, the retail food environment, fast food intake, and obesity: findings from the Survey of the Health of Wisconsin

Abstract

BackgroundNeighborhood-level characteristics such as economic hardship and the retail food environment are assumed to be correlated and to influence consumers’ dietary behavior and health status, but few studies have investigated these different relationships comprehensively in a single study. This work aims to investigate the association between neighborhood-level economic hardship, the retail food environment, fast food consumption, and obesity prevalence.MethodsLinking data from the population-based Survey of the Health of Wisconsin (SHOW, n = 1,570, 2008–10) and a commercially available business database, the Wisconsin Retail Food Environment Index (WRFEI) was defined as the mean distance from each participating household to the three closest supermarkets divided by the mean distance to the three closest convenience stores or fast food restaurants. Based on US census data, neighborhood-level economic hardship was defined by the Economic Hardship Index (EHI). Relationships were analyzed using multivariate linear and logistic regression models.ResultsSHOW residents living in neighborhoods with the highest economic hardship faced a less favorable retail food environment (WRFEI = 2.53) than residents from neighborhoods with the lowest economic hardship (WRFEI = 1.77; p-trend < 0.01). We found no consistent or significant associations between the WRFEI and obesity and only a weak borderline-significant association between access to fast food restaurants and self-reported fast food consumption (≥2 times/week, OR = 0.59-0.62, p = 0.05-0.09) in urban residents. Participants reporting higher frequency of fast food consumption (≥2 times vs. <2 times per week) were more likely to be obese (OR = 1.35, p = 0.06).ConclusionThis study indicates that neighborhood-level economic hardship is associated with an unfavorable retail food environment. However inconsistent or non-significant relationships between the retail food environment, fast food consumption, and obesity were observed. More research is needed to enhance methodological approaches to assess the retail food environment and to understand the complex relationship between neighborhood characteristics, health behaviors, and health outcomes.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12889-015-1576-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Association Between Living in Food Deserts and Cardiovascular Risk

“…45 However, other studies did not confirm these findings. 40, 46 We found that living in areas with low access to healthy food was not associated with a higher CVD risk, inflammation, OS or arterial stiffness compared to subjects living in areas with good access to healthy food. Thus, food access by itself, measured by proximity to supermarkets, might not contribute to increased cardiovascular risk, and the relative cost of higher quality food rather than access may be a major barrier to healthy lifestyle and choices.…”

Neighbourhood food environments revisited: When food deserts meet food swamps

“…In terms of unhealthy food availability, many studies in the US have tended to find that unemployed and immigrant groups are more vulnerable and have easier access to less favourable food outlets such as fast food restaurants and convenience stores (see Pearce et al ; Powell et al ; Laxy et al ). Our results from Table are generally consistent with their outcomes.…”

“…We first included the percentage of the population aged under 19 ( Children ) and the percentage of the senior population aged 65 and over ( Senior ) as the control variables since these households are more vulnerable to unhealthy food sources (Larsen and Gilliland ; Wang et al ; Su et al ; Li and Ashuri ). Many studies have considered the effect of the education level on food accessibility (Larsen and Gilliland ; Laxy et al ; Su et al ; Li and Ashuri ). We chose the percentage of residents who have a higher education such as post‐secondary certificate, diploma, or degree ( High Education ) as the education level indicator.…”

Dietary variables associated with substantial postpartum weight retention at 1-year among women with GDM pregnancy

“…Similarly, we found that 27% of our sample consumed fried food at least twice per week. Numerous adult studies have consistently found a link between fast food intake and obesity, [ 27 – 29 ] however, few studies have examined the relationship of fast food and/or fried foods on postpartum weight retention. In the Active Mothers Postpartum study, which included 450 overweight or obese White and African American postpartum women, lower junk food intake (which included French fries, fast food, chips, and soda and sugar sweetened beverages) at baseline (6 weeks postpartum) was linked to greater weight loss at 12-, 18, and 24-months postpartum [ 11 ].…”