142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

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Association between food desert census tract residence and dietary patterns in the REGARDS cohort study

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Monday, November 17, 2014 : 11:10 AM - 11:30 AM

Sindhu Lakkur, PhD , Ryals Public Health Building, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL
Suzanne Judd, PhD , Biostatistics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL
James Shikany, DrPH , Dept. of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL
Orlando Gutierrez, MD , Department of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL
Monika Safford, MD , Medicine / Division of Preventive Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL
Virginia Howard, PhD , Ryals Public Health Building, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL
Audio (mp3) recording Recorded Presentation (mp4)
Introduction:  Increased interest in determining areas in need of improved food access led the U.S Department of Agriculture (USDA) to define food desert census tracts; however, no nationwide studies have compared dietary patterns in food desert tracts to other tracts.

Methods:  We investigated the association between residence in a food desert census tract and dietary patterns among 19,511 participants in the REasons for Geographic and Racial Difference in Stroke (REGARDS) cohort study. Dietary patterns were identified using principal component analysis. The Southern dietary pattern was characterized by higher intakes of fried foods, sweetened beverages, and processed meats. The score from the factor analysis was used to create quartiles.  Presented below are multivariable-adjusted odds ratios (ORs) for adherence, calculated using logistic regression models.

Results: Among all participants, residence in a food desert census tract was associated with adherence to the southern diet (OR, 1.21; CI, 1.10-1.33). Race modified the association between residence in a food desert and adherence to the southern diet pattern (p<0.01). In the REGARDS population, 10% (n=1,260) of whites and 25% (n=1,685) of blacks live in food desert census tracts.  Residence in a food desert was associated with increased adherence to a southern diet among whites (OR, 1.46; CI, 1.26-1.70), but not among blacks (OR, 1.10; CI, 0.97-1.23) after adjustment for age, sex, region, marital status, income, and rural-urban commuting area (RUCA) code.

Discussion: Our findings demonstrate that food desert census tract residence may be associated with differences in dietary patterns, but this may vary by race.

Learning Areas:

Public health or related research

Learning Objectives:
Compare dietary patterns in food desert census tracts to other tracts in a nationwide study. Identify sociodemographic disparities in the association between dietary patterns and residence in a food desert census tract.

Keyword(s): Nutrition

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I earned a PhD in nutrition from Emory University and I am the writing chair of this project. I conceptualized this project and conducted the data analysis. At national scientific meetings, I have presented findings from separate analyses of diet in the REGARDS cohort study. Among my scientific interests is examining community-level influences on diet and health.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 3147.0: Exploring associations between dietary outcomes and food accessibility