Access To Grocery Stores Influences Nutrition, Overall Health

Unhealthy eating habits may be linked to a lack of access to "fresh, nutritious food" in some U.S. neighborhoods, according to a new study, the New York Times reports. University of North Carolina researchers examined data originally collected in the 1990s on 10,000 adults in four states. Participants were questioned about their daily eating habits. Researchers found that produce consumption increased 32% for each additional supermarket in predominantly black neighborhoods and 11% in predominantly white neighborhoods. At least one supermarket in a black neighborhood was linked to a 25% increase in the number of residents who "limited the amount of fat in their diets" compared to those with no supermarket, while 10% of people in white neighborhoods with at least one supermarket limited the amount of fat in their diet. Researchers found that 31% of whites lived in neighborhoods with "at least" one grocery store, compared to 8% of blacks, and white neighborhoods had an average of five times the amount of supermarkets as black neighborhoods. Dr. Kimberly Morland, an epidemiologist and lead researcher of the study, said, "There is an assumption that we all have access to healthy foods, and that when people aren't eating healthy it's because they choose not to. But this [study] demonstrates that the availability of food varies between neighborhoods, and it's related to the affluence and the race of the neighborhood." Dr. Maya Rockeymoore, a public health scholar at the National/Urban League Institute for Opportunity and Equality, said, "In some neighborhoods, it's easier to get an artery-clogging piece of fried chicken than it is to get a fresh apple. Many urban community dwellers would love to have better eating habits, but if there's no grocery store nearby, you're talking about getting on public transportation with a grocery cart" (Duenwald, New York Times, 11/12).