Examining Nutritional Vulnerability in an Under-Resourced Community in Northeastern Connecticut

Background/Objectives: Nutritional vulnerability (NV) describes the interaction of diet quality, access to food, health status and socioeconomic factors and may differ between neighborhoods. Nevertheless, there is still a limited amount of evidence regarding local NV variations in contrasting resource landscapes. The purpose of this study was to operationalize NV in Windham, Connecticut and conduct an analysis of its spatial distribution and the differences between neighborhoods for NV and specifically diet quality. Methods: NV was measured with four indicators, including two diet quality measures (liking-based DQI and short food frequency-based sHEI), food security, obesity, and SNAP participation. Areas of vulnerable concentration were determined through spatial mapping. Indicators related to each other were measured by Spearman correlation. To compare the contrasting neighborhoods (resource-dense vs. resource-limited), contextual differences were studied and differences in NV indicators, sociodemographic and movement factors were compared with the help of chi-square tests. Diet quality measures were jointly examined for concordance (both measures low or high) and discordance. Results: Area-level comparisons showed significant differences in mobility-related and sociodemographic characteristics, including vehicle access and education level (p < 0.05). High diet quality (measure concordance) was reported by individuals living in high-resourced regions; low diet quality (measure concordance) by individuals in low-resourced regions. Conclusions: The NV Map illustrated focal patterns of vulnerability determined by the interplay of sociodemographic disadvantage and mobility-related limitations and not by distance to food resources. These results give practical spatial data to promote specific nutrition and resource intervention.