Average Distance Traveled by Food in the Us
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Beyond Neighborhood Food Environments
Altitude Traveled to Food Establishments in five Us Cities, 2009-2011
Published in: Preventing Chronic Disease, v. 12, no. 150065, Aug. 2015, p. E126
Posted on RAND.org on August 12, 2015
INTRODUCTION: Accurate conceptualizations of neighborhood environments are important in the blueprint of policies and programs aiming to ameliorate access to healthy nutrient. Neighborhood environments are often defined by administrative units or buffers around points of interest. An individual may eat and store for nutrient inside or outside these areas, which may non reflect accessibility of nutrient establishments. This article examines the relevance of different definitions of food environments. METHODS: Nosotros collected information on trips to food establishments using a ane-week food and travel diary and global positioning organisation devices. Spatial-temporal clustering methods were applied to identify homes and nutrient establishments visited past study participants. RESULTS: We identified 513 visits to nutrient establishments (sit-downwardly restaurants, fast-food/convenience stores, malls or stores, groceries/supermarkets) by 135 participants in 5 US cities. The average distance between the food establishments and homes was 2.6 miles (standard deviation, 3.7 miles). Only 34% of the visited nutrient establishments were within participants' neighborhood census tract. Buffers of 1 or 2 miles effectually the home covered 55% to 65% of visited food establishments. There was a pregnant difference in the mean distances to food establishments types (P = .008). On average, participants traveled the longest distances to restaurants and the shortest distances to groceries/supermarkets. CONCLUSION: Many definitions of the neighborhood food environment are misaligned with individual travel patterns, which may assistance explain the mixed findings in studies of neighborhood food environments. Neighborhood environments defined by actual travel action may provide more insight on how the food surround influences dietary and nutrient shopping choices.
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