Healthy versus Unhealthy Suppliers in Food Desert Neighborhoods: A Network Analysis of Corner Stores’ Food Supplier Networks

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

Yeeli Mui²  Bruce Y. Lee²  Atif Adam²  Anna Y. Kharmats²  Nadine Budd¹  Claudia Nau²  Joel Gittelsohn²  Sara Kirk³  Jessie-Lee Mclsaac³ 

[1] Center for Human Nutrition, Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N. Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA;Global Obesity Prevention Center (GOPC) at Johns Hopkins University, 615 N. Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA;;Global Obesity Prevention Center (GOPC) at Johns Hopkins University, 615 N. Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA

关键词: food supply;    obesity;    healthy food availability;    network analysis;    corner store;    food deserts;    urban health;    food environment;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijerph121214965

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

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.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2015 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.