Who shops at their nearest grocery store? A cross-sectional exploration of disparities in geographic food access among a low-income, racially/ethnically diverse cohort in central Texas

Figures & data

Table 1. Description of race/ethnicity, urbanicity, demographic characteristics, motivations of store selection, and geographic food access of the sample.

N=393	Variable N	%	Mean		SD
Race/Ethnicity
Non-Hispanic White			126	32.31
People of Color (Hispanic + Black + Other)			264	67.69
Hispanic			211	54.1
Black			40	10.26
Other			13	3.33
Urbanicity
Urban			216	55.38
Peri-Urban			92	23.59
Rural			82	21.03
Geographic Food Access (Continuous, in Miles)
Average Distance to Closest Supermarket					1.66	1.3
Average Distance to Self-Reported Utilized Supermarket					5.26	4.67
Geographic Food Access (Categorical)
Shopped at Closest Supermarket			73	18.6
Shopped at Supermarket Somewhat Far from Closest Supermarket (1.1-5x Distance)			208	52.9
Shopped at Supermarket Very Far from Closest Supermarket (>5x Distance)			112	28.5
Income
Under $25,000			86	22.93
$25,000-$44,999			109	29.07
$45,000-$65,000			69	18.40
$65,000+			111	29.60
Utilization of SNAP and/or WIC in Last Year
Yes			85	21.63
No			308	78.37
Main Mode of Transportation
Personal Car			358	91.09
All Other Modes of Transportation			35	8.91
Main Motivation of Store Selection
Quality of Items			299	76.08
Price			226	57.51
Variety of Items			134	34.10
Quality of Store			63	16.03
Cultural Variety			41	10.43
Availability of Non-Food Items			179	45.55
Convenient Location			291	74.05

Table 2. Mean differences findings exploring distances to self-reported supermarket and demographic and motivation of store-selection-related factors.

	β	SE	p
Race/Ethnicity (Referent = Non-Hispanic White)
Hispanic	1.26	0.51	0.01
Black	2.71	0.84	0.001
Urbanicity (Referent = Urban)
Peri-Urban	1.77	0.37	<0.001
Rural	9.29	0.38	<0.001
Income (Referent = Under $25,000)
$25,000–$45,000	−0.43	0.67	0.52
$45,000–$65,000	0.08	0.75	0.91
Over $65,000	0.02	0.67	0.98
Utilization of SNAP and/or WIC in Last Year (Referent = No)
Yes, used SNAP and/or WIC in Last Year	0.22	0.02	<0.001
Main Mode of Transportation (Referent = Car)
All Other Modes of Transport	−1.30	0.83	0.12
Binary Variables for Main Motivation of Store Selection
Quality of Food	−0.04	0.55	0.94
Price	−0.20	0.48	0.68
Convenient Location	−0.21	0.54	0.70
Variety	0.14	0.50	0.77
Cultural Variety	0.15	0.77	0.85
Quality of Store	0.87	0.65	0.18
Availability of Non-Food Items	0.83	0.47	0.08

Table 3. Adjusted linear regression analytic findings exploring distances to closest supermarket and demographic and motivation of store-selection-related factors stratified by race/ethnicity.

	Non-Hispanic White Participants				Hispanic, Black, and/or Other Participants
	β	SE		p	β	SE		p
Urbanicity (Referent = Urban)
Peri-Urban	0.95	0.67	0.16		2.26		0.48		<0.001
Rural	8.97	0.74	<0.001		9.46		0.50		<0.001
Income (Referent = Under $25,000)
$25,000–$45,000	−1.53	1.06	0.15		−0.87		0.51		0.09
$45,000–$65,000	−1.74	1.03	0.10		−0.17		0.67		0.80
Over $65,000	−1.21	1.01	0.23		1.45		0.64		0.03
Utilization of SNAP and/or WIC in Last Year (Referent = No)
Yes, used SNAP and/or WIC in Last Year	−1.56	1.10	0.16		0.67		0.72		0.35
Main Mode of Transportation (Referent = Car)
All Other Modes of Transport	−0.09	0.86	0.92		0.21		0.48		0.67
Binary Variables for Main Motivation of Store Selection
Quality of Food	−0.41	0.71	0.57		0.31		0.80		0.70
Price	−0.10	0.64	0.88		0.62		0.83		0.45
Convenient Location	−1.46	0.48	<0.01		−0.53		0.51		0.30
Variety	0.61	0.88	0.38		0.16		0.83		0.84
Cultural Variety	−0.65	1.04	0.53		0.31		0.96		0.75
Quality of Store	0.79	0.80	0.33		0.43		0.90		0.63
Availability of Non-Food Items	0.33	0.48	0.50		0.13		0.42		0.75

Figure 1. Distribution of excess distance traveled to utilized supermarket by race/ethnicity.

Figure 2. Distribution oF excess distance traveled to utilized supermarket by urbanicity.

Figure 3. Distribution of excess distance traveled to utilized supermarket by main shopping motivation.