Geographic, Racial, Ethnic, and Socioeconomic Disparities in the Availability of Grocery Stores and Supermarkets Among Low-Income Women Across the Urban–Rural Continuum

Abstract

Disparities in the prevalence of obesity have been linked to differential access to grocery stores and supermarkets. The availability of convenience, grocery stores, and supermarkets within the census tract and a 1-, 3-, and 5-mile radius of residence was measured for women enrolled in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) (n = 21 203) in Kansas. Disparities in the availability of supermarkets were faced by women living in rural counties; however, within more urbanized areas, the presence of racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities differed based on whether store availability was measured within tract or within a 1-mile radius of residence. These results highlight the need for greater specificity when examining the relationship between food environments and dietary outcomes.

KEYWORDS:

• food environment
• food desert
• obesity
• disparities

This project was supported by a grant from the Sunflower Foundation: Health Care for Kansans, a Topeka-based philanthropic organization with the mission to serve as a catalyst for improving the health of Kansans. Appreciation and acknowledgement is also extended to Nancy Anderson of the Kansas Department of Agriculture for providing the food retail database and Pat Dunavan and David Thomason of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment for providing the WIC database. Thanks are also extended to Mike Dulin and Tom Vought of the Geographic Information Systems and Spatial Analysis Laboratory (GISSAL) at Kansas State University for their assistance in geocoding and spatial analysis. Special appreciation is also extended to Carol Ann Holcomb, Laszlo Kulcsar, Max Lu, and Gerad Middendorf for their contributions to this study.