Neighborhood Disparities in the Restaurant Food Environment

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Nutrition Science
• Health Disparities Research

Background:

• Restaurant meals are a significant part of the American diet.
• Understanding disparities in the restaurant food environment is crucial for targeted interventions to promote healthy eating.
• Disparities in access to healthy food options can exacerbate health inequalities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine neighborhood disparities in restaurant density.
• To assess disparities in the nutrition environment within restaurants.
• To analyze these disparities across a statewide sample of Wisconsin households.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from the Survey of the Health of Wisconsin (SHOW) (N=259 households).
• Enumerated and audited restaurants using the Nutrition Environment Measures Survey for Restaurants (NEMS-R).
• Defined neighborhoods using 2- and 5-mile street-distance buffers and employed adjusted linear regression models.

Main Results:

• Average neighborhoods had approximately 26 restaurants, with an average nutrition environment score of 36.1%.
• Higher restaurant density was associated with younger/older household age, all-white households, and urban locations.
• Urban and suburban neighborhoods had healthier nutrition environment scores compared to rural neighborhoods.

Conclusions:

• The restaurant food environment in Wisconsin exhibits variations based on age, race, and urbanicity.
• Significant opportunities exist to improve healthy eating options across socioeconomic groups and urbanicity levels.
• Future research should focus on policy and environmental interventions to promote healthy eating in all restaurants, particularly in underserved young and rural areas.