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Measuring Food Access to Improve Public Health
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2023-07-01
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[PDF-8.67 MB]
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Edition:Final Report: July 2023 [March 2021–July 2023]
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Abstract:Food access is important due to its impact on public health outcomes. A food access metric proposed for four different transportation modes is the square footage of supermarkets that can be reached within 10 minutes travel time walking, biking, driving, and 30 minutes travel time by walk/transit. The spatial analysis is conducted for the centroids of each census tract within a study area. An equity analysis using Lorenz curves shows that food access is most equitable by driving, and there are significant inequities for people that do not have access to a car. A regression analysis using the gradient boosted model, a machine learning method, shows gaps in food access for each transportation mode while controlling for community characteristics. The residuals of the model reveal which communities have the lowest food access relative to other similar communities within the state. The results reveal food access gaps in urban, suburban, and rural communities. Finally, focus groups with representatives of community organizations reveal the complex ways that transportation and socioeconomic factors interact to affect food accessibility. This research provides a quantitative method to identify gaps in food access and insights for where policy interventions would be valuable for improving food access.
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