Alternative Health Blog

It might sound too fundamental to mention, but making sure you live where there is convenient access to fruits, vegetables and other fresh foods is a health strategy not to be overlooked.  New research shows there are way too Americans who don’t have such a necessity in their lives.

There is a neighborhood on the West Side of Chicago, known as Austin, that has more people per square mile than most of America’s small towns. Yet you wouldn’t be able to find a supermarket in those blocks. A significant number of Americans who live in lower-income U.S. neighborhoods are less likely to have easy access to supermarkets than others who live in neighborhoods or areas in which the residents are more financially stable. This conclusion comes from a new analysis of 54 public health and urban planning studies published from 1985 to 2008.

This is simply not an acceptable situation, but it will take considerable public health advocacy to change the pattern. This phenomenon is decades old.

What’s more, Nicole Larson, University of Minnesota researcher and lead author of the meta-analysis, said these residents might be without a supermarket but they will have no shortage of choices for fast-food franchises.

"The research I reviewed suggests there is a need for new policies and other local actions to address the problem of poor access to healthy foods in many lower income, rural, and minority communities," Larson said in news reports.

Larson said “evidence is mounting” that the lack of healthful food along “income, race and ethnicity” lines is a major reason why certain demographic groups suffer the greatest health problems. 

Here’s a vital point from the study, published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine: If low-income or minority individuals and families do in fact happen to live near a supermarket, their diets are documented as more healthy and risk-adverse. For example, the probability that African-Americans meet guidelines for fresh fruit and vegetable consumption increases by 33 percent with every additional supermarket located in their neighborhoods.

There’s more: Studies showed that people with two or more supermarkets in their census tract are significantly less likely to be overweight or obese (20 percent or more over a healthful weight), while those individuals who live near 24-hour convenience food stores (shelved with lots of junk food) are found to be at an increased risk for weight-related health issues. 

The race factors are bleak. One study showed predominantly-black neighborhoods have half as many chain supermarkets than white communities and Hispanic neighborhoods have only a third as much. In six field studies, investigators who visited actual stores found white-neighborhood supermarkets were stocked with more fresh produce, low-fat dairy products, high-fiber breads and lean meats than larger grocery stories in black and Hispanic communities. .

Of course, this is no easy problem to solve. Public health officials are exploring ways to provide financial incentives to larger chain supermarkets to locate in poor areas. There are also projects considering whether urban farming or local hands-on cooking classes can make a difference.

It seems the first step is to acknowledge not all of us live near a supermarket with healthy choices for our meals and our families—and that we can’t find that any more socially tolerable than hunger.

Bob Condor blogs for Alternative Health Journal every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.