Availability of healthy foods and dietary patterns: the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis

Am J Clin Nutr. 2009 Mar;89(3):897-904. doi: 10.3945/ajcn.2008.26434. Epub 2009 Jan 14.

Abstract

Background: Inadequate availability of healthy foods may be a barrier to achieving recommended diets.

Objective: The objective was to study the association between the directly measured availability of healthy foods and diet quality.

Design: We conducted a cross-sectional study of 759 participants from the Baltimore site of the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis. Diet was characterized by using a food-frequency questionnaire and summarized by using 2 empirically derived dietary patterns reflecting low- and high-quality diets. For each participant, the availability of healthy foods was directly assessed by using 3 measures: in all food stores within their census tract, in their closest food store, and in all food stores within 1 mile (1.6 km) of their residence.

Results: Twenty-four percent of the black participants lived in neighborhoods with a low availability of healthy food compared with 5% of white participants (P < 0.01). After adjustment for age, sex, income, and education, a lower availability of healthy foods in the tract of residence or in the closest store was associated with higher scores on the low-quality dietary pattern (P < 0.05). Less consistent associations were observed for the high-quality dietary pattern.

Conclusions: Healthy foods were less available for black participants. Low availability of healthy foods was associated with a lower-quality diet. The extent to which improvements in the availability of healthy foods results in higher-quality diets deserves further investigation.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Atherosclerosis / ethnology
  • Atherosclerosis / prevention & control*
  • Baltimore
  • Black People
  • Black or African American
  • Cohort Studies
  • Cross-Sectional Studies
  • Feeding Behavior* / ethnology
  • Female
  • Food Supply* / economics
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Socioeconomic Factors
  • White People