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Food Access and Perceptions of the Community and Household Food Environment as Correlates of Fruit and Vegetable Intake among Rural Seniors
Author(s) -
Sharkey Joseph R.,
Johnson Cassandra,
Dean Wesley R.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.24.1_supplement.213.2
Subject(s) - environmental health , consumption (sociology) , healthy food , rural area , food group , perception , psychological intervention , rural community , food choice , food processing , geography , business , medicine , food science , socioeconomics , psychology , economics , biology , social science , pathology , sociology , neuroscience , psychiatry
Little is known about the spatial challenges to good nutrition faced by seniors who reside in rural areas and how spatial access influences fruit and vegetable intake. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the associations among individual and neighborhood characteristics, perceived and objective measures of food access, and fruit and vegetable intake of 589 rural seniors in Texas who participated in the 2006 Brazos Valley Health Assessment. Our analyses revealed that increased distance to the nearest supermarket, food store with a good variety of fresh and processed fruit, or food store with a good variety of fresh and processed vegetables was associated with decreased daily consumption of fruit and vegetables, after controlling for the influence of individual characteristics and perceptions of community and home food resources. Findings suggest that interventions designed to increase fruit and vegetable consumption among rural seniors should consider strategies to ameliorate differential access to healthy food due to food store distance.