Recorded presentation

Kimberly B. Morland, PhD, Community and Preventive Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, One Gustave L. Levy Place, Box 1057, New York, NY 10029, 212-241-7531, kimberly.morland@mssm.edu, Steve Wing, PhD, Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, CB# 7435, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7435, and Ana Diez Roux, MD, PhD, Center for Social Epidemiology and Population Health, University of Michigan, 1214 S. University, 2nd Floor, Ann Arbor, MI 48104.

Previous research indicates that the selection of healthy foods in low income and minority neighborhoods is limited compared to wealthy white neighborhoods and residents’ diets are less healthy in areas without supermarkets. We compared the prevalence of overweight and obesity in census tracts with and without supermarkets in four United States communities. Body mass index (BMI) was determined for 11,231 individuals living in two hundred and five census tracts located in Jackson Mississippi; Forsyth County North Carolina; Washington County, Maryland and selected suburbs of Minneapolis Minnesota. Both residential addresses and business addresses of places the sell food in these areas were geocoded to census tracts. The prevalence of overweight was 9% lower in areas with compared to those without supermarkets (Prevalence ratio (PR)=0.91; 95% Confidence Interval (CI)=0.87, 0.95). Obesity was 33% less common in areas with at least one supermarket (PR=0.75, 95% CI=0.67, 0.85). After adjustments for other types of food stores and food service places, age, race, gender, education and income, the prevalence of obesity was 20% lower in areas with supermarkets (PR=0.83; 95% CI=0.76, 0.92). Obesity was more common in areas with small corner grocery stores and convenience stores (PR=1.24, 95% CI =1.12, 1.38) and (PR=1.18, 95% CI=1.04, 1.33) respectively, however, these associations were reduced to 1.08 (95% CI=1.00, 1.17) and 1.10 (95% CI=1.01, 1.21), respectively, by adjustment for covariates. This evidence supports the hypothesis that in the US context, local availability of supermarkets may be associated with lower prevalence of overweight and obesity.

Learning Objectives:

• Recognize the differences in the physical availability of healthy foods. Identify the potential impact the availability of healthy foods has on the prevalence of overweight and obesity.

Keywords: Access and Services, Obesity

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.

Recorded presentation