Geographic Access to Healthy and Unhealthy Foods for the Older Population in a U.S. Metropolitan Area

Abstract

Poor nutrition is known to be associated with a number of adverse health outcomes; adequate nutrition is related to a large number of factors, including geographic access to healthy foods. Access to healthy foods can be especially challenging for older people with any kind of transportation or mobility limitations. In addition, some older populations may have reduced access to healthy foods because of the unavailability of food outlets in their neighborhoods. Using the geographic information system (GIS), this study assessed census block level geographic accessibility to healthy and unhealthy food outlets in one county in Ohio. It was found that there was a noticeable disparity in geographic access to food outlets in this older population, depending on which part of the county they live in. These findings have implications for future public health research and policy planning.