Foodscapes of southern Ontario: Neighbourhood deprivation and access to healthy and unhealthy food retail

Polsky, Jane Y; Moineddin, Rahim; Glazier, Richard H.; Dunn, James R.; Booth, Gillian L.

doi:10.17269/cjph.105.4541

Cited by 25 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…[12][13][14][15][16] Results of this research are equivocal. A review by Beaulac et al 17 found that clear disparities in food access exist by income and race in many municipalities in the United States, but not elsewhere.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 67%

“…22,23 Similar trends have been found in southern Ontario urban centres. 15,24 These findings were confirmed in a recent review of Canadian food environments by Minaker et al, 25 who concluded that food desert patterns were more pronounced in the United States than Canada, where many deprived urban neighbourhoods have access to healthy food as good as, in some cases better access than wealthier neighbourhoods.…”

mentioning

confidence: 70%

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Food deserts in Winnipeg, Canada: a novel method for measuring a complex and contested construct

Slater

Epp-Koop²,

Jakilazek

et al. 2017

Health Promot Chronic Dis Prev Can

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Introduction “Food deserts” have emerged over the past 20 years as spaces of concern for communities, public health authorities and researchers because of their potential negative impact on dietary quality and subsequent health outcomes. Food deserts are residential geographic spaces, typically in urban settings, where low-income residents have limited or no access to retail food establishments with sufficient variety at affordable cost. Research on food deserts presents methodological challenges including retail food store identification and classification, identification of low-income populations, and transportation and proximity metrics. Furthermore, the complex methods often used in food desert research can be difficult to reproduce and communicate to key stakeholders. To address these challenges, this study sought to demonstrate the feasibility of implementing a simple and reproducible method of identifying food deserts using data easily available in the Canadian context. Methods This study was conducted in Winnipeg, Canada in 2014. Food retail establishments were identified from Yellow Pages and verified by public health dietitians. We calculated two scenarios of food deserts based on location of the lowest-income quintile population: (a) living ≥ 500 m from a national chain grocery store, or (b) living ≥ 500 m from a national chain grocery store or a full-service grocery store. Results The number of low-income residents living in a food desert ranged from 64 574 to 104 335, depending on the scenario used. Conclusion This study shows that food deserts affect a significant proportion of the Winnipeg population, and while concentrated in the urban core, exist in suburban neighbourhoods also. The methods utilized represent an accessible and transparent, reproducible process for identifying food deserts. These methods can be used for costeffective, periodic surveillance and meaningful engagement with communities, retailers and policy makers.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 67%

mentioning

confidence: 70%

Food deserts in Winnipeg, Canada: a novel method for measuring a complex and contested construct

Slater

Epp-Koop²,

Jakilazek

et al. 2017

Health Promot Chronic Dis Prev Can

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“…BMI (kg/m 2 ) values were derived from self-reported height and weight data and were corrected for bias resulting from self-report using a validated error correction factor. 21 Because of previously reported associations between the local retail food environment, area socio-economic composition, walkability and diabetes, [22][23][24][25] our analyses included composite indices of material deprivation and walkability at slightly larger geographic units than DBs -dissemination areas (small census areas with an average population of 400-700 people). Area material deprivation was measured using the Ontario Marginalization Index, a theoretically informed and empirically derived composite index of Canadian marginalization 26 previously shown to relate to the distribution of retail food outlets across this study's area.…”

Section: Baseline Covariatesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Area material deprivation was measured using the Ontario Marginalization Index, a theoretically informed and empirically derived composite index of Canadian marginalization 26 previously shown to relate to the distribution of retail food outlets across this study's area. 23 Area walkability was assessed using a validated walkability index recently linked to levels of obesity and diabetes in Toronto.…”

Section: Baseline Covariatesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relative and absolute availability of fast-food restaurants in relation to the development of diabetes: A population-based cohort study

Polsky

Moineddin

Glazier

et al. 2016

Can J Public Health

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OBJECTIVES:To determine whether residents living in areas with a high proportion of fast-food restaurants (FFR) relative to all restaurants are more likely to develop diabetes and whether the risk varies according to the volume of FFR. METHODS:The study cohort consisted of adult respondents (20-84 years) to the Canadian Community Health Survey (cycles 2005, 2007/2008, 2009/2010) who resided within walking distance (720 m) of at least one restaurant in Toronto, Brampton, Mississauga or Hamilton, ON. The development of diabetes was established by linking participants to the Ontario Diabetes Database. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) of incident diabetes associated with relative and absolute measures of restaurant availability.RESULTS: During a median follow-up of 5 years, 347 of 7,079 participants (4.6%) developed diabetes. Among younger adults (20-65 years, n = 5,806), a greater proportion of fast-food relative to all restaurants was significantly associated with incident diabetes after adjustment for a range of individual and area-level covariates, but only in areas with high volumes of fast-food retailers (3+ outlets) (HR = 1.79, 95% confidence interval: 1.03-3.12, across the interquartile range). Adjusting for body mass index rendered this association non-significant. No significant associations were observed in areas with low volumes of FFR or among older adults (65-84 years, n = 1,273). Absolute availability (number) of fast-food and other restaurants was generally unrelated to incident diabetes. CONCLUSION:Areas with the double burden of a high volume of FFR and few dining alternatives may represent an adverse environment for the development of diabetes.KEY WORDS: Diabetes mellitus; fast food; restaurants; body mass index; cohort studies La traduction du résumé se trouve à la fin de l'article.

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“…limited-service) restaurants have been classified as "unhealthy" retail food outlets. 44,49,50 While it is acknowledged that highly processed foods that are energy-dense and nutrientpoor can be purchased at "healthy" food retailers (e.g. supermarkets) and minimally processed nutrient-dense foods can be purchased at "unhealthy" food retailers (e.g.…”

Section: §mentioning

confidence: 99%

Status report - Geographic retail food environment measures for use in public health

Mahendra

Polsky

Robitaille

et al. 2017

Health Promot Chronic Dis Prev Can

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The Association of Public Health Epidemiologists in Ontario (APHEO) Core Indicators Work Group standardizes definitions and calculation methods for over 120 public health indicators to enhance accurate and standardized community health status reporting across public health units in Ontario. The Built Environment Subgroup is a multi-disciplinary group made up of planners, researchers, policy analysts, registered dietitians, geographic information systems (GIS) analysts and epidemiologists. The Subgroup selected and operationalized a suite of objective, standardized indicators intended to help public health units and regional health authorities assess their community retail food environments. The Subgroup proposed three indicators that use readily available data sources and GIS tools to characterize geographic access to various types of retail food outlets within neighbourhoods in urban settings. This article provides a status report on the development of these food environment indicators.

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Foodscapes of southern Ontario: Neighbourhood deprivation and access to healthy and unhealthy food retail

Cited by 25 publications

References 23 publications

Food deserts in Winnipeg, Canada: a novel method for measuring a complex and contested construct

Food deserts in Winnipeg, Canada: a novel method for measuring a complex and contested construct

Relative and absolute availability of fast-food restaurants in relation to the development of diabetes: A population-based cohort study

Status report - Geographic retail food environment measures for use in public health

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