title: Measuring the food environment in three rural towns in New South Wales, Australia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Food availability affects eating habits, and in the Australian context, refers to the numbers and locations of food retail and food service outlets and the types and range of foods in those outlets. The aim of this study was to assess the community and consumer food environment in three small rural towns in New South Wales, Australia.
  
  
  METHODS
  Geographical analyses were used to measure the diversity, variety and locations of food outlets (community food environment); and checklists were used to assess the availability of selected indicator foods within food outlets (consumer food environment).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Supermarkets provided access to the full range of healthy indicator foods, with convenience stores selling a more limited set of healthy food items. There were high numbers of take-away food outlets in each town that had no, or a limited number of, healthy food items. Energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods such as soft drinks and potato crisps were readily available across all food retail outlets in all towns.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study illustrates a valid, reliable and practical way of systematically describing food availability at a local level. The findings emphasise the ubiquity of energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods, and suggest that interventions to promote the availability of healthier food items in take-away food outlets are required. Further research is required to assess other factors which may affect residents' food access, such as cost and transport.
authors.affiliation: Physical Activity and Nutrition Obesity Research Group, Sydney School of Public Health, University of Sydney, New South Wales. christine.innes@sydney.edu.au
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Innes-Hughes
authors.forename: Sinead
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Boylan
authors.forename: Lesley A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: King
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lobb
mesh_terms: D004032:Diet / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004777:Environment; D005523:Food Supply / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D009517:New South Wales; D012111:Residence Characteristics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012147:Restaurants; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*