The role of the built environment, food prices and neighborhood poverty in fruit and vegetable consumption: An instrumental variable analysis of the moving to opportunity experiment

Individual- and environmental-level determinants of fruit and vegetable intakes in rural Georgia

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the ways in which food insecurity, food acquisition behaviors, and perceived and objective food access influence fruit and vegetable intakes among rural Georgians.

DESIGN

A population-based survey was merged with USDA's Food Access Research Atlas, and multilevel modeling was used to determine individual-level (eg, food insecurity, food acquisition behaviors, perceived access) and environmental-level (eg, census tract food access) predictors of fruit and vegetable intakes.

SETTING

Twenty-four rural census tracts in 6 counties in Georgia, USA.

PARTICIPANTS

One thousand four hundred and seventy-four adults.

RESULTS

Residing in a low food access census tract was not associated with fruit or vegetable intake. Food insecurity had negative effects on both fruit and vegetable intakes. Perceived access to fresh fruits and vegetables was positively associated with fruit intake, and obtaining fresh fruits and vegetables from community or home gardens was positively associated with both fruit and vegetable intakes.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings are unique from previous research on census tract-level fruit and vegetable determinants, underscoring the need for a better understanding of influences on fruit and vegetable intakes among rural populations. Interventions to increase fruit and vegetable consumption in rural areas should prioritize food security.

Optimization of sensory properties of ultrasound-treated strawberry vinegar

Vinegar is renowned for its benefits to human health due to the presence of antioxidants and bioactive components. Firstly, this study optimized the production conditions of ultrasound-treated strawberry vinegar (UT-SV), known for its high consumer appeal. The sensory properties of UT-SV were optimized by response surface methodology (RSM) to create the most appreciated strawberry vinegar. Secondly, various quality parameters of conventional strawberry vinegar (C-SV), UT-SV, and thermally pasteurized strawberry vinegar (P-SV) samples were compared. RSM was employed to craft the best strawberry vinegar based on consumers ratings of UT-SV. Sensory characteristics, bioactive values, phenolic contents, and organic acid contents of C-SV, UT-SV, and P-SV samples were assessed. Through optimization, the ultrasound parameters of the independent variables were determined as 5.3 min and 65.5 % amplitude. The RSM modeling levels exhibited high agreement with pungent sensation at 98.06 %, aromatic intensity at 98.98 %, gustatory impression at 99.17 %, and general appreciation at 99.26 %, respectively. Bioactive components in UT-SV samples increased after ultrasound treatment compared to C-SV and P-SV samples. Additionally, the amount of malic acid, lactic acid, and oxalic acid increased after ultrasound treatment compared to C-SV samples. Ultimately, UT-SV with high organoleptic properties was achieved. The ultrasound treatment positively impacted the bioactive values, phenolic and organic acid content, leading to the development of a new and healthy product.

Impact of the Neighborhood Food Environment on Dietary Intake and Obesity: a Review of the Recent Literature

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

The built environment impacts obesogenic behaviors and in turn body weight outcomes. This review summarizes recent research demonstrating environmental impacts on dietary intake and obesity with a specific focus on the neighborhood food environment.

RECENT FINDINGS

In the previous five years, an abundance of reviews and research studies have been undertaken to elucidate how the neighborhood food environment impacts diet and obesity. This includes studies using primary data collection and secondary data analyses in various populations across the globe. Taken together, current research presents mixed evidence on the impact of the neighborhood food environment on both dietary intake and obesity. While there is some evidence that certain features of the neighborhood food environment influence health behaviors and outcomes in particular populations, it is imperative to acknowledge the complexity of how neighborhood features interact and constantly evolve when considering place-based influences on health behaviors and outcomes.

The association of neighborhood socioeconomic characteristics with cardiovascular health: A quasi-experimental study of refugees to Denmark

Neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage is associated with cardiovascular health, although it is unclear which specific aspects of neighborhoods matter most. We leveraged a natural experiment in which refugees to Denmark were quasi-randomly assigned to neighborhoods across the country during 1986-1998, creating variation in exposure to various aspects of neighborhood disadvantage. The cohort was followed through December 2018. Exposures included neighborhood-level family income, educational attainment, unemployment, and welfare transfers measured in the first neighborhood after arrival to Denmark. Outcomes included cardiovascular risk factors (hyperlipidemia, hypertension, diabetes and anxiety/depression) and cardiovascular disease (acute myocardial infarction and ischemic heart disease). Neighborhood-level income and education were most consistently associated with cardiovascular risk factors, whereas welfare transfers were most consistently associated with cardiovascular disease. Addressing these specific aspects of neighborhood disadvantage could therefore lower the risk of poor cardiovascular health among refugees. Future research is warranted to examine if results are generalizable to other immigrant groups, countries or time periods.

Longitudinal exposure to neighborhood poverty and obesity risk in emerging adulthood

This study uses data from the longitudinal Panel Study of Income Dynamics data and its Transition to Adulthood (TA) Study (2005-2017), in conjunction with decades of neighborhood-level data from the U.S. decennial census and American Community Survey, to examine the relationship between individuals' neighborhood poverty exposure trajectories in childhood and the likelihood of obesity in emerging adulthood. Latent growth mixture models reveal that exposure to neighborhood poverty differs considerably for white and nonwhite individuals over their childhood life course. Durable exposure to neighborhood poverty confers greater subsequent obesity risks in emerging adulthood than transitory experiences of neighborhood poverty. Racial differences in the changing and persistent trajectories of neighborhood poverty help explain part of the racial differences in obesity risks. Among nonwhites, and compared to consistent nonpoor neighborhood conditions, both durable and transitory neighborhood poverty exposures are significantly associated with higher obesity risks. This study suggests that a theoretical framework that integrates key elements of the life-course perspective is helpful to uncover the individual and structural pathways through which neighborhood histories in poverty shape population health in general.

Assessing the Cost of Healthy and Unhealthy Diets: A Systematic Review of Methods

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

Poor diets are a leading risk factor for chronic disease globally. Research suggests healthy foods are often harder to access, more expensive, and of a lower quality in rural/remote or low-income/high minority areas. Food pricing studies are frequently undertaken to explore food affordability. We aimed to capture and summarise food environment costing methodologies used in both urban and rural settings.

RECENT FINDINGS

Our systematic review of high-income countries between 2006 and 2021 found 100 relevant food pricing studies. Most were conducted in the USA (n = 47) and Australia (n = 24), predominantly in urban areas (n = 74) and cross-sectional in design (n = 76). All described a data collection methodology, with just over half (n = 57) using a named instrument. The main purpose for studies was to monitor food pricing, predominantly using the 'food basket', followed by the Nutrition Environment Measures Survey for Stores (NEMS-S). Comparatively, the Healthy Diets Australian Standardised Affordability and Price (ASAP) instrument supplied data on relative affordability to household incomes. Future research would benefit from a universal instrument reflecting geographic and socio-cultural context and collecting longitudinal data to inform and evaluate initiatives targeting food affordability, availability, and accessibility.

Historical redlining and food environments: A study of 102 urban areas in the United States

OBJECTIVE

Unhealthy food environments are disproportionally concentrated in neighborhoods with clustering of racial/ethnic minorities and poverty. This disparity has been blamed, in part, on market self-regulation. This explanation risks overlooking past and current practices of racial segregation that have created and reinforced the obstacles blocking investments from food retailers in marginalized neighborhoods. We fill this gap by investigating how the long-term ramifications of redlining, discriminatory housing practices enacted by federal Home Owner Lending Corporation (HOLC) in the 1930s, has evolved generations later to disproportionally exposing neighborhoods to unhealthy food environments.

METHODS

We overlaid historical redlining maps over 2010 food environment observations at the census tract level to identify areas with less healthy food environments and to assess the historical context of those areas. For 11,651 census tracts within 102 U.S. urban areas, we described the healthiness of food environments as measured by the modified retail food environment index (mRFEI). Using hurdle models with random effects, we further examined the association between redlining housing practice and food environments.

RESULTS

The results indicate that historically redlined neighborhoods show a higher likelihood for unhealthy retail food environments even for census tracts with present-day economic and racial privilege.

CONCLUSION

The current evidence shows how structural discrimination manifested by unjust housing practices and racial residential segregation fueled an uneven food environment where minority neighborhoods disproportionally bore the brunt of restrictive food access. It highlights an urgent need to ameliorate patterns of housing inequality as a fix to unequal food environments.

Food Availability in Different Food Environments Surrounding Schools in a Vulnerable Urban Area of Santiago, Chile: Exploring Socioeconomic Determinants

The analysis of the food environment is used to identify areas with gaps in the availability of healthy foods and can be used as a public policy assessment tool. In recent decades, Chile has implemented several strategies and regulations to improve food environments, with encouraging results. Little is known about the scope of these measures in socially vulnerable environments. This study is part of a project that seeks to build an integrated intervention model for healthy school environments in a vulnerable area of Santiago, Chile. The objective of this study was to evaluate the availability of healthy and unhealthy foods around schools and the relationship between it and socioeconomic determinants of the school community in the Chilean context. A cross-sectional study to measure the food environment of informal markets (street food), formal markets (stores), and institutions (schools) was conducted in and around 12 schools (100 m surrounding schools) in a vulnerable urban area of Santiago, Chile. A lack of healthy foods was observed, which was related to some socio-economic determinants and the multidimensional poverty was the most relevant. The diagnosis of food environments around schools can represent an important target for governments to implement policies focused at improving the availability of healthy foods.

Methods to Address Self-Selection and Reverse Causation in Studies of Neighborhood Environments and Brain Health

Preliminary evidence suggests that neighborhood environments, such as socioeconomic disadvantage, pedestrian and physical activity infrastructure, and availability of neighborhood destinations (e.g., parks), may be associated with late-life cognitive functioning and risk of Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders (ADRD). The supposition is that these neighborhood characteristics are associated with factors such as mental health, environmental exposures, health behaviors, and social determinants of health that in turn promote or diminish cognitive reserve and resilience in later life. However, observed associations may be biased by self-selection or reverse causation, such as when individuals with better cognition move to denser neighborhoods because they prefer many destinations within walking distance of home, or when individuals with deteriorating health choose residences offering health services in neighborhoods in rural or suburban areas (e.g., assisted living). Research on neighborhood environments and ADRD has typically focused on late-life brain health outcomes, which makes it difficult to disentangle true associations from associations that result from reverse causality. In this paper, we review study designs and methods to help reduce bias due to reverse causality and self-selection, while drawing attention to the unique aspects of these approaches when conducting research on neighborhoods and brain aging.