Associations between Neighborhood Availability and Individual Consumption of Dark-Green and Orange Vegetables among Ethnically Diverse Adults in Detroit

Abstract

Diets rich in dark-green and orange vegetables have been associated with a reduction in chronic diseases. However, most Americans do not consume the number of daily servings recommended by the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. An increasing number of studies suggest that changes to the neighborhood food environment may be critical to achieving population-wide improvements in eating. The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between observed neighborhood availability and individual consumption of dark-green and orange vegetables among low- to moderate-income and ethnically diverse adults in Detroit. This study used a cross-sectional design that drew upon a 2002–2003 community survey and 2002 in-person audit of food stores. A total of 919 adults (mean age 46.3 years, 52.2% female) including African Americans (56.7 %), Latinos (22.2%), and whites (18.7%) residing in three Detroit communities participated in the survey. Two-level weighted, hierarchical linear regression was used to analyze the data. On average, survey respondents ate 0.61 daily servings of dark-green and orange vegetables. Residents of neighborhoods with no stores carrying five or more varieties of dark-green and orange vegetables were associated with an average of 0.17 fewer daily servings of these foods compared with residents of neighborhoods with two stores carrying five or more varieties of dark-green and orange vegetables (P=0.047). These findings suggest that living in a neighborhood with multiple opportunities to purchase dark-green and orange vegetables may make an important contribution toward meeting recommended intakes.

Development and validation of the Perceived Food Environment Questionnaire in a French-Canadian population

“…A popular method is to use geocoding to objectively assess the distance between respondents' home and food retailers or restaurants, and to document exposure to various shop types (e.g. Aggarwal et al (1) , Izumi et al (2) ,…”

Development, reliability and use of a food environment assessment tool in supermarkets of four neighbourhoods in Montréal, Canada

“…6 The food environment has been shown to influence food choices and dietary patterns. 7 Community (accessibility of different types of food stores) and consumer (what is available inside food stores) food environments have been associated with FV consumption, [8][9][10][11][12][13] diet quality, 8,11,[14][15][16][17][18] and weight. [19][20][21][22][23][24][25] In Canada, the current food environment provides cheap, readily available, and massively marketed highenergy-density foods and UPFPs.…”

Evaluating the South Memphis Farmers Market as a Strategy To Improve Access to Healthy Foods: Lessons from 2011

“…In general, diets high in fresh fruits and vegetables are associated with lower rates of obesity and central adiposity, as well as related conditions such as diabetes (Baxter, Coyne, & McClintock, 2006;Hu, 2003;Roblin, 2007). A number of studies have found that neighborhood access to supermarkets and full-service restaurants predicts fruit and vegetable consumption, controlling for income (Izumi, Zenk, Schulz, Mentz, & Wilson, 2011;Kamphuis, Giskes, de Bruijn, Wendel-Vos, Brug, & van Lenthe, 2006). Similarly, neighborhood food access is related to the risk of obesity (Gibson, 2011;Rundle et al, 2009;Zick, Smith, Fan, Brown, Yamada, & Kowaleski-Jones, 2009).…”