TY - JOUR
T1 - Socioeconomic context and the food landscape in Texas
T2 - Results from hotspot analysis and border/non-border comparison of unhealthy food environments
AU - Salinas, Jennifer J.
AU - Abdelbary, Bassent
AU - Klaas, Kelly
AU - Tapia, Beatriz
AU - Sexton, Ken
PY - 2014/5/26
Y1 - 2014/5/26
N2 - Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe the food landscape of Texas using the CDC's Modified Retail Food Environment (mRFEI) and to make comparisons by border/non-border. Methods: The Modified Retail Food Environment index (mRFEI (2008)) is an index developed by the CDC that measures what percent of the total food vendors in a census track sell healthy food. The range of values is 0 (unhealthy areas with limited access to fruits and vegetables) to (100-Healthy). These data were linked to 2010 US Census socioeconomic and ethnic concentration data. Spatial analysis and GIS techniques were applied to assess the differences between border and non-border regions. Variables of interest were mRFEI score, median income, total population, percent total population less than five years, median age, % receiving food stamps, % Hispanic, and % with a bachelor degree. Results: Findings from this study reveal that food environment in Texas tends to be characteristic of a "food desert". Analysis also demonstrates differences by border/non-border location and percent of the population that is foreign born and by percent of families who receive food stamps. Conclusions: Identifying the relationship between socioeconomic disparity, ethnic concentration and mRFEI score could be a fundamental step in improving health in disadvantage communities, particularly those on the Texas-Mexico border.
AB - Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe the food landscape of Texas using the CDC's Modified Retail Food Environment (mRFEI) and to make comparisons by border/non-border. Methods: The Modified Retail Food Environment index (mRFEI (2008)) is an index developed by the CDC that measures what percent of the total food vendors in a census track sell healthy food. The range of values is 0 (unhealthy areas with limited access to fruits and vegetables) to (100-Healthy). These data were linked to 2010 US Census socioeconomic and ethnic concentration data. Spatial analysis and GIS techniques were applied to assess the differences between border and non-border regions. Variables of interest were mRFEI score, median income, total population, percent total population less than five years, median age, % receiving food stamps, % Hispanic, and % with a bachelor degree. Results: Findings from this study reveal that food environment in Texas tends to be characteristic of a "food desert". Analysis also demonstrates differences by border/non-border location and percent of the population that is foreign born and by percent of families who receive food stamps. Conclusions: Identifying the relationship between socioeconomic disparity, ethnic concentration and mRFEI score could be a fundamental step in improving health in disadvantage communities, particularly those on the Texas-Mexico border.
KW - Border
KW - Ethnic concentration
KW - Food environment
KW - Socioeconomics
KW - Texas
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U2 - 10.3390/ijerph110605640
DO - 10.3390/ijerph110605640
M3 - Article
C2 - 24865399
AN - SCOPUS:84901400065
VL - 11
SP - 5640
EP - 5650
JO - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
JF - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
SN - 1661-7827
IS - 6
ER -