Background
Various hypotheses link neighborhood food environments and diet. Greater exposure
to fast-food restaurants and convenience stores is thought to encourage overconsumption;
supermarkets and large grocery stores are claimed to encourage healthier diets. For
youth, empirical evidence for any particular hypothesis remains limited.
Purpose
This study examines the relationship between school and residential neighborhood food
environment and diet among youth in California.
Methods
Data from 8226 children (aged 5–11 years) and 5236 adolescents (aged 12–17 years)
from the 2005 and 2007 California Health Interview Survey were analyzed in 2011. The
dependent variables are daily servings of fruits, vegetables, juice, milk, soda, high-sugar
foods, and fast food, which were regressed on measures of food environments. Food
environments were measured by counts and density of businesses, distinguishing fast-food
restaurants, convenience stores, small food stores, grocery stores, and large supermarkets
within a specific distance (varying from 0.1 to 1.5 miles) from a respondent's home
or school.
Results
No robust relationship between food environment and consumption is found. A few significant
results are sensitive to small modeling changes and more likely to reflect chance
than true relationships.
Conclusions
This correlational study has measurement and design limitations. Longitudinal studies
that can assess links between environmental, dependent, and intervening food purchase
and consumption variables are needed. Reporting a full range of studies, methods,
and results is important as a premature focus on correlations may lead policy astray.
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© 2012 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
