Neighbourhood Provision of Food and Alcohol Retailing and Social Deprivation in Urban New Zealand

Abstract

Recent research has considered whether a range of social and physical characteristics of residential neighbourhoods are important in explaining social and spatial inequalities in health. One strand of this research has investigated the role of neighbourhood access to retail provision of healthy and affordable food. In this national study we used Geographical Information Systems (GIS) to examine the association between food retail (supermarkets, convenience stores and fast food outlets) and licensed alcohol outlet locations, and an area measure of deprivation for urban neighbourhoods across New Zealand. We found that contrary to the international evidence, for all outlet types, access to a range of retail options tended to be better in more deprived neighbourhoods. The implications of this socio-spatial distribution of food and alcohol retailing in reducing health inequalities are discussed.

Keywords:

• Neighbourhoods
• health
• food retailing
• alcohol retailing
• Geographical Information Systems

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Matthew Faulk and Laura Miller for their assistance with geocoding the data.

Notes

1. The ‘environmental bottom line’ refers to the predominant focus on precise environmental standards at the expense of wider definitions of sustainability. Consistent with this accountancy metaphor, as long as this bottom line is met then market forces are left to create the ‘optimal’ use of the resources available (see Perkins & Thorns, 2001, for a wider discussion).