Exploring the relationship between food access and foodborne illness by using spatial analysis.

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Spatial Epidemiology
• Food Security

Background:

• Neighborhood deprivation is linked to increased foodborne illness risk.
• Food deserts, areas with limited access to nutritious food, often overlap with deprived neighborhoods.
• The complex nature of gastrointestinal (GI) illness tracking hinders understanding of demographic disparities in pathogen outbreaks.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between food deserts and the spatial distribution of GI illnesses in Hamilton, Ontario.
• To assess the suitability of existing data for examining the relationship between food access and GI illness risk.
• To identify data gaps and recommend improvements for public health surveillance.

Main Methods:

• Utilized Geographic Information System (GIS) software for spatial analysis.
• Mapped food retail outlets, accessibility, and GI illness proxies (sales of antidiarrheal, antinausea, and rehydration products).
• Conducted statistical analysis of mapped data to identify spatial relationships.

Main Results:

• No statistically significant relationship was found between food outlet accessibility and GI illness rates.
• Analysis revealed significant shortfalls and gaps in the available data.
• Existing data was insufficient to support or refute the hypothesis linking food deserts and GI illness risk.

Conclusions:

• Current data is inadequate to establish a definitive link between food access and GI illness distribution.
• Recommendations are provided to enhance illness reporting systems and refine food access mapping.
• Improved data collection is crucial for identifying at-risk populations and reducing foodborne disease incidence.