Explaining Racial Inequality in Food Security in Columbus, Ohio: A Blinder-Oaxaca Decomposition Analysis.

Keumseok Koh,Michelle L Kaiser,Karima Samadi,Glennon Sweeney,Ayaz Hyder

doi:10.3390/ijerph17155488

Abstract

Food insecurity is a leading public health challenge in the United States. In Columbus, Ohio, as in many American cities, there exists a great disparity between Black and White households in relation to food insecurity. This study investigates the degree to which this gap can be attributed to differences in food shopping behavior, neighborhood perception, and socioeconomic characteristics. A Blinder–Oaxaca decomposition method is used to analyze a household survey dataset collected in 2014. We find a 34.2 percent point difference in food security between White and Black households. Variables related to food shopping behavior, neighborhood perception, and socioeconomic characteristics explain 13.8 percent, 11.6 percent, and 63.1 percent of the difference, respectively. These independent variables combined can explain 68.2 percent of the food security gap between White and Black households. Most of this is attributable to socioeconomic variables. Sense of friendship in neighborhood, use of private vehicles, and satisfaction of neighborhood food environment also partially contribute to the food security gap.

Highlights

Using BO approach, this study aims to divide the Black–White food security differential into a part part that is “explained” by group differences in socioeconomic characteristics, food shopping that is “explained” by group differences in socioeconomic characteristics, food shopping behaviors, behaviors, and neighborhood perception and a remaining part that cannot be accounted for by such and neighborhood perception and a remaining part that cannot be accounted for by such differences in differences in the known determinants of food security in Columbus, Ohio [53]
In terms of socioeconomic characteristics, White respondents were younger, possessed higher educational and household income levels, had fewer children in their homes, and were less likely to participate in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
We analyze a survey on food security status, shopping behavior, neighborhood, and socioeconomic characteristics, finding that the majority of the racial gap in food security is attributable to socioeconomic characteristics of households

Summary

Introduction

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) uses four labels to characterize the food security status of households (i.e., all the people who occupy a housing unit regardless of family relations) [5]. Along a continuum, these are high food security (i.e., no reported food procurement issues), marginal food security (i.e., some anxiety reported on sufficient food procurement, but little or no change in diet or food intake), low food security (i.e., reduced diet quality, but little or no reduction in food intake), and very low food security (i.e., negative, reduced changes in both diet and food intake) [1]. Public Health 2020, 17, 5488; doi:10.3390/ijerph17155488 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph

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