Using aggregated mobile phone location data to compare the realised foodscapes of different socio-economic groups.

Abstract

The foodscape (the built food environment) is considered one of the driving factors of the higher burden of obesity and chronic disease observed in low socio-economic status (SES) groups. Traditional data collection methods struggle to accurately capture actual access and exposure to the foodscape (realised foodscape). We assess the use of anonymised mobile phone location data (location data) in foodscape studies by applying them to a case study in Perth, Western Australia to test the hypothesis that lower SES groups have poorer realised foodscapes than high SES groups. Kernel density estimation was used to calculate realised foodscapes of different SES groups and home foodscape typologies, which were compared to home foodscapes of the different groups. The location data enabled us to measure realised foodscapes of multiple groups over an extended period and at the city scale. Low SES groups had poor availability of food outlets, including unhealthy outlets, in their home and realised foodscapes and may be more susceptible to a poor home foodscape because of low mobility.