December 10, 2008
Access to healthy foods in Baltimore
In a study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, researchers found that black and poor neighborhoods had less access to healthy foods than white or high income neighborhoods.
Researchers looked at participants in the MESA study. They matched neighborhood racial and income composition (based on 2000 Census data) with data on the food stores in the same census tract areas. Consideration was given to whether a store carried 'healthy foods' (skim milk and boneless chicken breast for example) and the amount of shelf space reserved for those foods.
The research group found that residents in poor and black neighborhoods had fewer stores that carried healthy foods and that stores coded as 'supermarkets' carried more healthy foods in predominantly white neighborhoods than predominantly black neighborhoods.
BONUS: The next presentation in the Works in Progress series will be this Friday, December 12th. Full details tomorrow.
Posted by David Porter at 10:00 AM
Category: Health Disparities; Healthy Foods; Nutrition; Socioeconomic Status; Urban Health; community health; economic differences; supermarkets