Food Access, Availability, and Affordability in 3 Los Angeles Communities, Project CAFE, 2004-2006

Details

• Journal Article:
  Preventing Chronic Disease (PCD)
• Personal Author:
  Vallianatos, Mark ; Azuma, Andrea Misako ; Gilliland, Susan ; Gottlieb, Robert
• Description:
  Introduction
  
  Racial/ethnic minority communities are at increasingly high risk for chronic diseases related to obesity. Access to stores that sell affordable, nutritious food is a prerequisite for adopting a healthful diet. The objective of this study was to evaluate food access, availability, and affordability in 3 nonoverlapping but similar low-income communities in urban Los Angeles, California.
  
  Methods
  
  Using a community-based participatory research approach, we trained community members to conduct a food assessment to 1) map the number and type of retail food outlets in a defined area and 2) survey a sample of stores to determine whether they sold selected healthful foods and how much those foods cost. We used descriptive statistics to summarize findings.
  
  Results
  
  Of the 1,273 food establishments mapped in the 3 neighborhoods, 1,023 met the criteria of "retail food outlet." The most common types of retail food outlets were fast-food restaurants (30%) and convenience/liquor/corner stores (22%). Supermarkets made up less than 2% of the total. Convenience/liquor/corner stores offered fewer than half of the selected healthful foods and sold healthful foods at higher prices than did supermarkets.
  
  Conclusions
  
  Access to stores that sell affordable healthful food is a problem in urban Los Angeles communities. Healthful food strategies should focus on changing food environments to improve overall community health.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Commerce Data Collection Food Food Supply Health Behavior Humans Interviews As Topic Nutrition Policy Urban Population
• Source:
  Prev Chronic Dis. 7(2).
• ISSN:
  1545-1151
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Los Angeles, CA
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  7
• Issue:
  2
• Collection(s):
  Preventing Chronic Disease
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:229e2f629174caf2622c0dd72378b608baf0070872e4c0ef0169b4c4393454f8668e9198e3e2acdac9f20ee29a8b402dcdb90e6354b8b01b06ba665b17e7d124
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/20436/cdc_20436_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 411.64 KB ]