Neighborhood Retail Food Environment and 6-Year Changes in Cardiometabolic Health in Hispanics/Latinos: HCHS/SOL...

Little is known about neighborhood retail food environments and cardiometabolic health among Hispanic/Latino adults, who experience significant health inequities. This study aimed to examine associations of the neighborhood retail food environment with cardiometabolic health of Hispanic/Latino adults over a 6-year period.

Participants from the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos San Diego Field Center (n = 3851) underwent assessments of cardiometabolic risk factors at baseline (2008-2011) and approximately 6 years later (2014-2017). Weight (body mass index [BMI] and overweight/obesity), hypertension (normotensive, prehypertensive, or hypertensive), and diabetes (normoglycemia, prediabetes, or diabetes) status were considered cardiometabolic risk factors. Participants' home addresses at baseline and 6 years later were geocoded. The neighborhood retail environment was quantified using the Modified Retail Food Environment Index (mRFEI) within 800-m circular buffers around these two addresses. Complex survey regression analyses quantified associations between both baseline and changes in neighborhood retail food environment and cardiometabolic health of Hispanic/Latino adults over 6 years.

A one standard deviation higher baseline standardized mRFEI score was associated with approximately 14.3% lower odds of transitioning from a healthy weight to overweight or from overweight to obesity (OR = 0.857, 95%CI [0.738, 0.994], p < 0.05) at year 6. No significant associations were found between the mRFEI and hypertension, diabetes status, or BMI.

A healthier retail food environment may be associated with healthier weight profiles among Hispanic/Latino adults over time, suggesting that improving healthy neighborhood food outlet availability may contribute to combating obesity among the Hispanic/Latino population.