Mapping physical activity opportunities and fruit and vegetable outlets to area-level characteristics

The built environment has been linked with individual physical activity behaviors and fruit and vegetable consumption. Furthermore, disparities in the built environment have been reported in selected US cities.

The aims of this study are to document disparities in physical activity opportunities (PAOs) and fruit and vegetable outlets (FVOs) within metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) in the US and to identify area-level predictors of such disparities by combining tools and resources from demography, public health, urban planning, business, and GIS.

Data sources include the US Census, business listings from the Dun & Bradstreet Million Dollar Database, and street and marketing data from the Environmental Studies Research Institute. PAOs are operationalized via street structure, and locations of parks, gyms, and schools. FVOs are defined through locations of grocery stores, farmers markets, community-support agriculture programs, and food co-ops. Logistic regression was used to examine the independent associations of PAOs and FVOs and the following block group (BG) characteristics: urbanization (dichotomous), size, median age, and percent white race (quartiles).

Preliminary analysis of BGs within two MSAs (Atlanta N=2,008, Austin N=798) indicates that grocery store concentration is higher in census-defined urban areas (89% of BGs, OR=2.36, p<0.0001) after adjusting for population size (p=0.003), race/ethnicity (p=0.06), and BG size (p<0.0001). Associations between urbanization and access to greenspace varied by MSA (Atlanta OR=5.45, Austin OR=15.95, interaction p<0.0001).

PAO and FVO-deprived areas exist and vary in degree by MSA. An understanding of these phenomena in a variety of US cities could aid in procedures to improve individual behavior.