Developing an agenda for research about policies to improve access to healthy foods in rural communities: a concept mapping study

BMC Public Health

Joseph Sharkey⁴  Stephanie B Jilcott Pitts²  Courtney Pinard¹  Jane Kolodinsky⁵  Sheila Fleischhacker⁶  Wesley Dean⁹  Carmen Byker³  Alice Ammerman⁸  Marilyn Sitaker^1,10  Emilee Quinn^1,11  Donna B Johnson⁷ 

[1]Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition, 8401 W Dodge Rd, Suite 100, 68114 Omaha, NE, USA

[2]Department of Public Health, East Carolina University, 600 Moye Blvd., Mailstop 660 Lakeside Annex Modular Unit 8, Room 126, 27834 Greenville, NC, USA

[3]Department of Health and Human Development, Montana State University, 222 Romney Gym, 59717 Bozeman, MT, USA

[4]Department of Health Promotion and Community Health Sciences, Texas A&M Health Science Center, School of Public Health, MS 1266, 77843-1266 College Station, TX, USA

[5]Department of Community Development and Applied Economics, University of Vermont, 202 Morrill Hall, 05405 Burlington, VT, USA

[6]Division of Nutrition Research Coordination, National Institutes of Health, Two Democracy Plaza, Room 635 6707 Democracy Boulevard MSC 5461, 20892-5461 Bethesda, MD, USA

[7]Nutritional Sciences, University of Washington, 98195, Box 353410, Seattle, WA, USA

[8]Department of Nutrition, Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, CB# 7426, 1700 MLK/Airport Rd, Room 239, 27599–7426, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

[9]United States Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service, Office of Policy Support, Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services Headquarters, 3101 Park Center Drive, 22302 Alexandria, VA, USA

[10]Battelle, Health & Analytics, 1100 Dexter Avenue N., Suite 400, 98109 Seattle, WA, USA

[11]Center for Public Health Nutrition, University of Washington, 98195, Box 353410, Seattle, WA, USA

关键词: Policy;    Food access;    Food systems;    Nutrition;    Rural populations;   

Others  :  1129486
DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2458-14-592

 received in 2014-02-25, accepted in 2014-06-02,  发布年份 2014

【 摘 要 】

Background

Policies that improve access to healthy, affordable foods may improve population health and reduce health disparities. In the United States most food access policy research focuses on urban communities even though residents of rural communities face disproportionately higher risk for nutrition-related chronic diseases compared to residents of urban communities. The purpose of this study was to (1) identify the factors associated with access to healthy, affordable food in rural communities in the United States; and (2) prioritize a meaningful and feasible rural food policy research agenda.

Methods

This study was conducted by the Rural Food Access Workgroup (RFAWG), a workgroup facilitated by the Nutrition and Obesity Policy Research and Evaluation Network. A national sample of academic and non-academic researchers, public health and cooperative extension practitioners, and other experts who focus on rural food access and economic development was invited to complete a concept mapping process that included brainstorming the factors that are associated with rural food access, sorting and organizing the factors into similar domains, and rating the importance of policies and research to address these factors. As a last step, RFAWG members convened to interpret the data and establish research recommendations.

Results

Seventy-five participants in the brainstorming exercise represented the following sectors: non-extension research (n = 27), non-extension program administration (n = 18), “other” (n = 14), policy advocacy (n = 10), and cooperative extension service (n = 6). The brainstorming exercise generated 90 distinct statements about factors associated with rural food access in the United States; these were sorted into 5 clusters. Go Zones were established for the factors that were rated highly as both a priority policy target and a priority for research. The highest ranked policy and research priorities include strategies designed to build economic viability in rural communities, improve access to federal food and nutrition assistance programs, improve food retail systems, and increase the personal food production capacity of rural residents. Respondents also prioritized the development of valid and reliable research methodologies to measure variables associated with rural food access.

Conclusions

This collaborative, trans-disciplinary, participatory process, created a map to guide and prioritize research about polices to improve healthy, affordable food access in rural communities.

【 授权许可】

   
2014 Johnson et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

【 图 表 】

Figure 1.

Figure 2.

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