Using spatial analysis to examine inequalities and temporal trends in food retail accessibility

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Urban Planning
• Food Environments

Background:

• Food retail access is crucial for public health and can be unequally distributed.
• Rapid urban growth can exacerbate existing health inequalities.
• Understanding spatial and temporal food retail access is key to addressing disparities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine inequalities in food retail access (type and healthiness) across local government areas (LGA) in Greater Melbourne.
• To assess if these inequalities differ based on proximity to the central business district and growth area designation.
• To determine if identified inequalities persisted over time.

Main Methods:

• Secondary analysis of a repeated cross-sectional census of food outlets (2008, 2012, 2014, 2016).
• Study encompassed 31 local government areas in Greater Melbourne, Australia.
• Geographical Information Systems used for spatial analysis of food retail environments.

Main Results:

• Significant, persistent inequalities in access to healthy food retail were found at the LGA level.
• Residents in lower-density urban growth areas had the least access to healthy food retail.
• Unhealthy food retail was more accessible, with increasing accessibility in urban growth areas over time.

Conclusions:

• Accessibility to food outlets, especially healthy options and supermarkets, is unequal in Greater Melbourne.
• Health inequalities linked to rapid urban growth require further investigation into food environment interactions.
• Targeted interventions are needed to address disparities in food access within growing urban areas.