Low-fat milk and high-fiber bread availability in food stores in urban and rural communities.
As part of the Albany Prevention Research Center's Core Project to understand environmental influences on a healthy lifestyle, all food stores in downtown Albany (N=79) and rural Columbia and Greene counties (N=177) in New York State were visited and surveyed for their availability of low-fat milk and high-fiber bread. Stores in the rural community were significantly (P < .01) more likely to stock low-fat milk (71%) and high-fiber bread (55%) than stores in Albany (40% and 33%, respectively). The rural community also had a significantly higher population ratio of "healthy milk & bread (M&B) stores" (carrying both items) than Albany (7.6 vs 3.9 per 10,000 residents). Urban healthy M&B stores were more likely to be a convenience store and accept food stamps, whereas rural healthy M&B stores were more likely to be a gas station store and offer off-street parking. Multiple logistic regression analysis found that healthy M&B stores were inversely associated with proportions of ethnic/racial minorities in the census block group (CBG). More than 80 percent of minorities in Albany resided in a CBG without a healthy M&B store. Urban residents in predominantly minority neighborhoods were most likely to encounter environmental barriers to obtain healthy staple food, and intervention should be tailored to aid this population.
Hosler
Akiko S
AS
Diabetes, Surveillance and Evaluation, New York State Department of Health Bureau of Chronic Disease Epidemiology and Surveillance, Albany, NY 12237, USA. ash05@health.state.ny.us
Varadarajulu
Deepa
D
Ronsani
Adrienne E
AE
Fredrick
Bonnie L
BL
Fisher
Brian D
BD
D000818:Animals; D001939:Bread / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D004041:Dietary Fats; D004043:Dietary Fiber; D005523:Food Supply / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008892:Milk / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D008913:Minority Groups; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
D004041:Dietary Fats; D004043:Dietary Fiber