Results Could Help Inform Policies and Programs to Reduce Childhood Obesity / ScienceDaily

Obesity in children is a major health problem in the United States. Income and race / ethnicity are key factors badociated with obesity, and disparities in childhood obesity may be influenced by disparities in access to food between neighborhoods. Previous research had examined access to food based on income and race / ethnicity, but many of these studies had significant limitations, such as the use of inaccurate data to define food access. or focusing on one type of food outlet.

Elbel and his colleagues have now conducted the first study on food access incorporating accurate data on the home and school address for each student. The researchers used data from the NYC Department of Education for 789,520 children from kindergarten to Grade 12 to calculate the distance to the nearest food store and the number of points within a radius of 0.25 miles.

Scientists have hypothesized that low-income and minority students would have greater access to unhealthy outlets, such as fast-food outlets and convenience stores, and fewer healthier outlets, such as only restaurants and supermarkets. However, they discovered that Black, Hispanic and Asian students lived and attended school closer to the four types of outlets than white students, regardless of their poverty status.

The authors acknowledge some limitations of their study, such as the lack of data to determine how well a point of sale can be healthy. Nevertheless, they provide a detailed picture of access to food that could improve the understanding of disparities and guide efforts to combat childhood obesity. Further research is needed to understand the causes of disparities in access to food and their badociation with health outcomes in New York and other regions.

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