title: Healthy versus Unhealthy Suppliers in Food Desert Neighborhoods: A Network Analysis of Corner Stores' Food Supplier Networks.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Products in corner stores may be affected by the network of suppliers from which storeowners procure food and beverages. To date, this supplier network has not been well characterized.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using network analysis, we examined the connections between corner stores (n = 24) in food deserts of Baltimore City (MD, USA) and their food/beverage suppliers (n = 42), to determine how different store and supplier characteristics correlated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Food and beverage suppliers fell into two categories: Those providing primarily healthy foods/beverages (n = 15) in the healthy supplier network (HSN) and those providing primarily unhealthy food/beverages (n = 41) in the unhealthy supplier network (UHSN). Corner store connections to suppliers in the UHSN were nearly two times greater (t = 5.23, p < 0.001), and key suppliers in the UHSN core were more diverse, compared to the HSN. The UHSN was significantly more cohesive and densely connected, with corner stores sharing a greater number of the same unhealthy suppliers, compared to HSN, which was less cohesive and sparsely connected (t = 5.82; p < 0.001). Compared to African Americans, Asian and Hispanic corner storeowners had on average -1.53 (p < 0.001) fewer connections to suppliers in the HSN (p < 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings indicate clear differences between corner stores' HSN and UHSN. Addressing ethnic/cultural differences of storeowners may also be important to consider.
authors.affiliation: Global Obesity Prevention Center (GOPC) at Johns Hopkins University, 615 N. Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. ymui1@jhu.edu.|Center for Human Nutrition, Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N. Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. ymui1@jhu.edu.
authors.forename: Yeeli
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mui
authors.affiliation: Global Obesity Prevention Center (GOPC) at Johns Hopkins University, 615 N. Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. brucelee@jhu.edu.|Center for Human Nutrition, Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N. Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. brucelee@jhu.edu.
authors.forename: Bruce Y
authors.initials: BY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Global Obesity Prevention Center (GOPC) at Johns Hopkins University, 615 N. Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. aadam1@jhu.edu.
authors.forename: Atif
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Adam
authors.affiliation: Global Obesity Prevention Center (GOPC) at Johns Hopkins University, 615 N. Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. akharmats@jhu.edu.
authors.forename: Anna Y
authors.initials: AY
authors.lastname: Kharmats
authors.affiliation: Center for Human Nutrition, Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N. Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. nbudd1@jhu.edu.
authors.forename: Nadine
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Budd
authors.affiliation: Global Obesity Prevention Center (GOPC) at Johns Hopkins University, 615 N. Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. cnau1@jhu.edu.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Nau
authors.affiliation: Global Obesity Prevention Center (GOPC) at Johns Hopkins University, 615 N. Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. jgittel1@jhu.edu.|Center for Human Nutrition, Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N. Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. jgittel1@jhu.edu.
authors.forename: Joel
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gittelsohn
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015142:Baltimore; D003132:Commerce / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D005523:Food Supply / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D058870:Food, Organic / Q000592:standards*; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D018673:Nutrition Policy; D011203:Poverty / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
keywords: corner store; food deserts; food environment; food supply; healthy food availability; network analysis; obesity; urban health