College of Business Administration, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA.
Katz Graduate School of Business, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2024 Jul 11;21(7):906. doi: 10.3390/ijerph21070906.
Food insecurity is pervasive in Allegheny County, as one in five residents experiences food insecurity. Food insecurity is linked to chronic health conditions like heart disease and hypertension and disproportionately affects women in the United States, particularly women who are head of household. There are multiple dimensions used to measure regional disparities in food accessibility. Prior research has examined the linkages between food access and food insecurity, and this study aims to explore further the relationship between equitable access to sustainable and affordable food sources. This study examines food outlets in Allegheny County to determine if there is a significant relationship between food outlet availability and food insecurity. Both the presence and accessibility of these food outlets were examined. To measure accessibility, the walking distance to the nearest public transportation stop was calculated for each public transportation stop. The minimum distance to each food outlet was compared to food insecurity rates on a census tract level. Results showed that communities without grocery stores had lower access to healthy and affordable food sources. Also, communities with a higher proportion of female-headed households experienced greater food insecurity, regardless of access to food outlets. There was no statistically significant relationship between the distance from public transportation stops to grocery stores and rates of food insecurity overall and in low-income communities. However, communities with inaccessible grocery stores, either absent in the census tract or without close public transport stops, did have even greater average rates of food insecurity if there was an above-average proportion of female-headed households. Based on these findings, it is evident there exist structural elements of the built environment that correspond with disproportionate rates of food insecurity experienced by communities with households that are predominately female headed. In addition to resource support for these marginalized groups, we suggest that sole reliance on distance as an indicator of food insecurity can be misleading. There should be a greater focus on walkability aggregated on a household or individual level within the community instead of physical distance alone at a general scale.
阿利根尼县普遍存在粮食不安全问题，五分之一的居民经历粮食不安全。粮食不安全与心脏病和高血压等慢性健康状况有关，并且不成比例地影响美国的妇女，尤其是作为户主的妇女。有多个维度用于衡量粮食获取方面的区域差异。先前的研究已经检验了粮食获取与粮食不安全之间的联系，本研究旨在进一步探讨公平获得可持续和负担得起的粮食来源之间的关系。本研究考察了阿利根尼县的粮食销售点，以确定粮食销售点的供应是否与粮食不安全之间存在显著关系。检查了这些粮食销售点的存在和可及性。为了衡量可及性，为每个公共交通站点计算了到最近的公共交通站点的步行距离。将每个粮食销售点的最小距离与按普查区划分的粮食不安全率进行了比较。结果表明，没有杂货店的社区获得健康和负担得起的粮食来源的机会较少。此外，无论是否能够获得粮食销售点，女性户主比例较高的社区经历的粮食不安全程度更高。从公共交通站点到杂货店的距离与总体粮食不安全率以及低收入社区的粮食不安全率之间没有统计学上的显著关系。但是，如果女性户主比例较高的社区没有可进入的杂货店（在普查区中不存在或没有靠近的公共交通站点），那么这些社区的粮食不安全平均率甚至更高。根据这些发现，显然存在与主要由女性户主家庭组成的社区所经历的不成比例的粮食不安全率相对应的建筑环境结构要素。除了为这些边缘化群体提供资源支持外，我们还建议，仅仅依靠距离作为粮食不安全的指标可能具有误导性。应该更加关注社区内家庭或个人层面的可步行性，而不仅仅是一般规模上的物理距离。
