Deborah M. Bentzel, MPH¹, Erika F. Holmberg², Gregory J. Howard³, Russell P. Lopez, MCRP, DSC³, and H. Patricia Hynes, MA, MS³. (1) Slone Epidemiology Center, Boston University School of Public Health, 1010 Commonwealth Ave, 4th Floor, Boston, MA 02215, 6177346006x234, dbentzel@slone.bu.edu, (2) Boston VA Healthcare System / MAVERIC, 150 S. Huntington Ave (151 MAV), Jamaica Plain, MA 02130, (3) Environmental Health, Boston University School of Public Health, 715 Albany Street, T-2, Boston, MA 02118

Food insecurity, once considered a public health concern only in developing countries, is now an increasingly pervasive urban health issue along with air pollution, poverty, and overcrowding in urban centers of the United States. This study was designed to assess the state of food security in Massachusetts by assessing the number of supermarkets and medium-sized food stores in urban and suburban communities with differing socioeconomic profiles. The US Census 2000 provided economic and demographic data on the ZIP code level. Using population density, educational level, race/ethnicity, and income as predictors, we examined the distribution of food stores in urban and suburban areas. Poisson regression was used to estimate the relative risk of the occurrence of food stores. As income level increased, the relative risk for a supermarket or medium-sized food store significantly decreased, to 0.36 in the highest-income category (95%CI 0.29, 0.55). As education level increased, however, we observed a significantly elevated RR of large or medium-sized food stores, to 2.4 in the most educated category (95%CI 1.6, 3.5). Population density exhibited no clear linear trend in the distribution of food stores, nor was race/ethnicity a significant predictor of the occurrence of supermarkets or medium-sized groceries. Our results were not consistent with known trends of food insecurity in urban centers. We intend to extend this analysis to the census tract level in order to further define the realities of community food security and insecurity in Massachusetts communities.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify sociodemographic predictors of food security in Massachusetts, as measured by access to supermarkets.
• Discuss potential explanations for trends of food security in Massachusetts, with respect to the relative risk for food stores.

Keywords: Food Security, Urban Health

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.