Abstract
We examined racial/ethnic, socioeconomic, and urban/rural disparities in food policy enactment across different sectors, as well as retail food access, throughout the United States. Policy and retail food store data were obtained from 443 communities as part of the Bridging the Gap Community Obesity Measures Project. Our results indicated that median household income was inversely associated with healthier retail food zoning policies in Hispanic communities, where competitive food policies for schools were also healthier and mean fruit/vegetable access in stores was higher. In contrast, income was positively associated with healthier retail food zoning in rural communities, where competitive food policies were weaker. Black communities had low scores across all policy domains. Overall, Hispanic communities had the strongest food policies across sectors. Barriers to policy adoption in both rural and Black communities must be explored further.
Highlights
Racial/ethnic, socioeconomic, and geographic disparities in childhood obesity have persisted in the United States (U.S.) for decades (Wang and Beydoun, 2007)
This study focused on 3 indices of school or community food policies – the competitive food policy index (CFPI), the healthy food zoning index (HFZI), and the modified retail food zoning index (MRFZI)
Because this study focused on policies aimed at childhood obesity, the number of permitted healthy food outlets” (HFOs) types in each jurisdiction was weighted according to the proportion of the overall community population age 0–17 years located in that jurisdiction, and summed to the community level
Summary
Racial/ethnic, socioeconomic, and geographic disparities in childhood obesity have persisted in the United States (U.S.) for decades (Wang and Beydoun, 2007). The prevalence of childhood obesity rose substantially in all socio-demographic groups from 1980 to 2000 (Ogden et al, 2002) but has consistently been highest in racial/ethnic minority, low-income, and rural populations (Wang and Beydoun, 2007; Johnson and Johnson, 2015). Disparities in obesity-related diseases such as diabetes have grown in recent years (Geiss et al, 2014). These trends have taken place even as federal, state, and local policymakers in the U.S have implemented several initiatives to target environmental determinants of obesity (Institute of Medicine, 2012). Other initiatives have been promoted to target environmental determinants outside of school, such as zoning codes (Holzman, 2010), menu labels (Swartz et al, 2011), and sweetened beverage taxes (Powell et al, 2013)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 
Accepted Version (
Free)
Published Version
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call