Measuring the Food Environment: From Theory to Planning Practice

Leia Minaker,Kim Raine,Lawrence Frank,Pat Fisher

doi:10.5304/jafscd.2011.021.021

Abstract

The retail food environment is becoming an increasingly important consideration in land use planning decisions. Although many municipal official (or comprehensive) plans call for improved food environments, there are no standard methods by which to assess the implementation of policies reflecting these priorities. Methods developed to assess policy enforcement should be feasible to implement by urban planners and developers, should show some correlation between food environments and residents' health or diet outcomes, and should consider a more nuanced view of food environments than solely focusing on food access. In this paper we review food environment characteristics, theories and conceptual models, and assessment methods with goal of presenting theoretical bases for the selection of food environment assessment tools by public health planners and other practitioners. We examine methods to assess food environments and discuss potential adaptations of the methods to suit the needs of urban planners. A case study of the region of Waterloo is presented to illuminate the potential of food environment assessments for healthy public policy enforcement. Finally we describe implications for public health and urban planning.

Highlights

Evidence regarding the relationship between dietrelated health outcomes and the environments within which people must make their food choices continues to build (Black & Macinko, 2008; Frank, Kerr, Saelens, Sallis, Glanz, & Chapman, 2009; Sallis & Glanz, 2009)
In this paper we present a review of food environment characteristics, theories and conceptual models, and assessment methods for the purpose of presenting theoretical bases for the selection of food environment assessment tools to public health planners and other practitioners interested in assessing their local food environment
Food environment assessment methods vary widely in terms of data collection, with observational tools including checklists (e.g., Nutrition Environment Measures Survey for Stores and Restaurants (Cerin et al, 2011; Glanz, et al, 2007; Saelens et al, 2007)), shelf-space measures of specific “healthy” vs. “unhealthy” foods (Farley et al, 2009; Rose et al, 2009), and geographic information system (GIS)-based measures such as the Retail Food Environment Index (RFEI), which scores environments based on the ratio of the number of fast-food restaurants and convenience stores to supermarkets and specialty food stores within a given buffer zone (e.g., 0.5 mile or 800m) around an individual’s home (California Center for Public Health Advocacy, 2008; Spence et al, 2009)

Summary

Introduction

Evidence regarding the relationship between dietrelated health outcomes and the environments within which people must make their food choices (food environment) continues to build (Black & Macinko, 2008; Frank, Kerr, Saelens, Sallis, Glanz, & Chapman, 2009; Sallis & Glanz, 2009). Food environment assessment methods vary widely in terms of data collection, with observational tools including checklists (e.g., Nutrition Environment Measures Survey for Stores and Restaurants (Cerin et al, 2011; Glanz, et al, 2007; Saelens et al, 2007)), shelf-space measures of specific “healthy” vs “unhealthy” foods (Farley et al, 2009; Rose et al, 2009), and geographic information system (GIS)-based measures such as the Retail Food Environment Index (RFEI), which scores environments based on the ratio of the number of fast-food restaurants and convenience stores to supermarkets and specialty food stores within a given buffer zone (e.g., 0.5 mile or 800m) around an individual’s home (California Center for Public Health Advocacy, 2008; Spence et al, 2009). Researchers and practitioners who have employed the RFEI assume the importance of geographically defined food access in determining food choices or weight status, while those who employ more specific tools such as the NEMS-S or NEMS-R recognize that aspects of consumer nutrition environments (e.g., food affordability, food availability, barriers and facilitators to healthy eating) may play an important role in food purchasing and consumption behavior. Policy approaches have been justified based on the idea that even if environmental influences on behavior are relatively weak, their daily influence on large segments of the population may help to facilitate improved diet quality at the population-level (Booth et al, 2001)

Objective audits of restaurants

Main Findings

Conclusions