Validation of food store environment secondary data source and the role of neighborhood deprivation in Appalachia, Kentucky

Abstract

BackgroundBased on the need for better measurement of the retail food environment in rural settings and to examine how deprivation may be unique in rural settings, the aims of this study were: 1) to validate one commercially available data source with direct field observations of food retailers; and 2) to examine the association between modified neighborhood deprivation and the modified retail food environment score (mRFEI).MethodsSecondary data were obtained from a commercial database, InfoUSA in 2011, on all retail food outlets for each census tract. In 2011, direct observation identifying all listed food retailers was conducted in 14 counties in Kentucky. Sensitivity and positive predictive values (PPV) were compared. Neighborhood deprivation index was derived from American Community Survey data. Multinomial regression was used to examine associations between neighborhood deprivation and the mRFEI score (indicator of retailers selling healthy foods such as low-fat foods and fruits and vegetables relative to retailers selling more energy dense foods).ResultsThe sensitivity of the commercial database was high for traditional food retailers (grocery stores, supermarkets, convenience stores), with a range of 0.96-1.00, but lower for non-traditional food retailers; dollar stores (0.20) and Farmer’s Markets (0.50). For traditional food outlets, the PPV for smaller non-chain grocery stores was 38%, and large chain supermarkets was 87%. Compared to those with no stores in their neighborhoods, those with a supercenter [OR 0.50 (95% CI 0.27. 0.97)] or convenience store [OR 0.67 (95% CI 0.51, 0.89)] in their neighborhood have lower odds of living in a low deprivation neighborhood relative to a high deprivation neighborhood.ConclusionThe secondary commercial database used in this study was insufficient to characterize the rural retail food environment. Our findings suggest that neighborhoods with high neighborhood deprivation are associated with having certain store types that may promote less healthy food options.

Neighborhood Racial and Socioeconomic Disparities in the Food and Alcohol Environment: Are There Differences by Commercial Data Sources?

“…However, studies have pointed to the important differences between the sources of data, including variations in data collection procedures and reporting [17,19,20]. Prior studies have also tested the validity of these secondary data sources by comparing them with field surveys or similar methods [16,17,21,22], with some studies suggesting that there may be differences between secondary and survey-based data of food establishments across neighborhood socioeconomic categorizations [6,16,23]. Still, little is known about the degree to which locations of food and alcohol establishments generated by secondary, commercial data sources such as InfoUSA and D&B may differ and how they may differ across various neighborhood racial and socioeconomic characteristics.…”

Explaining variations in obesity and inactivity between US metropolitan areas

“…In defining low healthy food access, the most important influences are the ratio of convenience stores to grocery stores, and grocery stores per head. The relatively low salience of distance based access to supermarkets has some affinity with findings of Gustafson et al (2012), though higher weights attach to low distance based access combined with SES measures (namely low income or no car). The natural amenity score is the main influence on exercise access, providing some support for the ''green exercise'' hypothesis, namely the benefits of a ''synergistic combination of exercise and exposure to nature'' (Gladwell et al 2013).…”

“…There may be scope to improve measures of food access (e.g. Gustafson et al 2012). Whether and how far this would enhance the impact of food access (e.g.…”

“…For example, the modified retail food environment index (MRFEI) (healthy food retailers as a percentage of all food retailers) may dilute specific components of the food environment associated with diet and weight (Jilcott et al 2010a). Gustafson et al (2012) note that supermarket availability does not necessarily indicate an abundant resource of healthy, high quality foods. The literature review of food access by Health Canada (2013) mentions problematic questions such as appropriate distance thresholds for travelling to food stores, whether to use administrative boundaries, buffer zones, or activity spaces to define food access, and whether access differs by sociodemographic group, vehicle ownership, etc.…”

Neighborhood deprivation and availability of culturally specific African-American and Latino fruits and vegetables in five small central Illinois cities

“…In total, we assessed the respective availability (presence or absence) of 13 and 18 fruits and vegetables preferred by African American and Latino communities. This categorization was based on a review of the existing literature on cultural food patterns among African-Americans and Latinos, as well as existing instruments [1,[20][21][22][23].…”