Food environments

Unhealthy diets are linked with numerous chronic diseases including obesity. We make food choices within the food environments. The food environment, or ‘foodscape’, can be defined as any opportunity to obtain food and includes physical, socio-cultural, economic and policy influences at both micro and macro-levels [1, 2]. Research into the topic of the food environment is a relatively new field of research [3].

Environmental exposures such as the availability and accessibility of food interact with individual factors, such as taste, familiarity/habit and health to drive food choice [4]. The relationship between the food environment and obesity is complex [5]. While there is little research linking food access with obesity as an outcome measure in any age group [6], understanding the relationship between what we eat and the environmental context in which these food choices are made is essential to the development of long term obesity prevention strategies [7].

Food environments are believed to play a significant role in the obesity epidemic and robust research methods are required to establish which factors or aspects of the food environment are relevant to food choice and to adiposity [8].

References

  1. Townshend, T. and A.A. Lake, Obesogenic urban form: Theory, policy and practice. Health & Place, 2009. 15(4): p. 909-916.
  2. Lake, A. and T. Townshend, Obesogenic environments: exploring the built and food environments. The Journal of the Royal Society for the Promotion of Health, 2006. 126(6): p. 262-267.
  3. McKinnon, R.A., et al., Measures of the Food Environment: A Compilation of the Literature, 1990-2007. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 2009. 36(4, Supplement 1): p. S124-S133.
  4. Contento, I.R., et al., Understanding the food choice process of adolescents in the context of family and friends. Journal of Adolescent Health, 2006. 38(5): p. 575-582.
  5. Wang, M., et al., The neighborhood food environment: Sources of historical data on retail food stores. The International Journal Of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 2006. 3: p. 15 doi:10.1186/1479-5868-3-15.
  6. White, M., Food access and obesity. Obesity Reviews, 2007. 8(s1): p. 99-107.
  7. Holsten, J.E., Obesity and the community food environment: a systematic review. Public Health Nutrition, 2009. 12(03): p. 397-405.
  8. Lake, A.A., et al., The Foodscape: classification and field validation of secondary data sources. Health & Place, 2010. 16 p. 666-673.

Further reading

  1. Zick, C.D., et al., Running to the Store? The relationship between neighborhood environments and the risk of obesity. Social Science & Medicine, 2009. 69(10): p. 1493-1500.
  2. Walton, M., J. Pearce, and P. Day, Examining the interaction between food outlets and outdoor food advertisements with primary school food environments. Health & Place, 2009. 15(3): p. 841-848.
  3. Macdonald, L., A. Ellaway, and S. Macintyre, The food retail environment and area deprivation in Glasgow City, UK. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 2009. 6(1): p. 52.
  4. Lytle, L.A., Measuring the Food Environment: State of the Science. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 2009. 36(4, Supplement 1): p. S134-S144.
  5. Glanz, K., Measuring Food Environments: A Historical Perspective. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 2009. 36(4, Supplement 1): p. S93-S98.
  6. Beaulac, J., E. Kristjansson, and S. Cummins, A Systematic Review of Food Deserts, 1966-2007. Preventing Chronic Disease, 2009. 6(3).
  7. Hackett, A., et al., Mapping dietary habits may provide clues about the factors that determine food choice. Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, 2008. 21(5): p. 428-437.
  8. Cummins, S. and S. Macintyre, Food environments and obesity--neighbourhood or nation? International Journal of Epidemiology, 2006. 35(1): p. 100-104.
  9. Cummins, S.C.J., L. McKay, and S. MacIntyre, McDonald's Restaurants and Neighborhood Deprivation in Scotland and England. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 2005. 29(4): p. 308-310.
  10. Burgoine, T., et al., Changing foodscapes 1980-2000, using the ASH30 Study. Appetite, 2009. 53(2): p. 157-165.

Links

White, M., Food access and obesity. Obesity Reviews, 2007. 8(s1): p. 99-107. (OPEN ACCESS)
http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-789X.2007.00327.

Wardle, J., Eating behaviour and obesity. Obesity Reviews, 2007. 8(s1): p. 73-75.
http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-789X.2007.00322.

Jebb, S.A., Dietary determinants of obesity. Obesity Reviews, 2007. 8(s1): p. 93-97.
http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-789X.2007.00326.

Macintyre, S., et al., Out-of-home food outlets and area deprivation: case study in Glasgow, UK. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 2005. 2(1): p. 16.
http://www.ijbnpa.org/content/2/1/16