Mini Oral Australian Epidemiology Association ASM 2018

How does the community food environment change over time? Examining spatial exposure to food outlets in Perth, Western Australia (#90)

Alexia Bivoltsis 1 , Georgina S.A. Trapp 1 2 , Matthew Knuiman 1 , Paula Hooper 3 , Gina L. Ambrosini 1
  1. School of Population and Global Health, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia
  2. Telethon Kids Institute, Perth, WA, Australia
  3. School of Agriculture and Environment and the School of Human Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia

Introduction: The community food environment (CFE) (i.e., the location, type and number of food outlets) has been linked to dietary behaviours, suggesting a possible role in the rising prevalence of obesity. In Australia, little is known about how the CFE differs between established residential areas and new residential developments, or how it evolves over time. Methods: 3,275 addresses from the Western Australian RESIDential Environments (RESIDE) project were stratified by stage of urban development (i.e., established or new development). RESIDE is a quasi-experimental, longitudinal study involving a cohort of adults who moved residential address from an established area into one of 73 new housing developments. Food outlet locations (i.e., supermarkets, greengrocers, convenience stores, cafes/restaurants and takeaways/fast food) were sourced from commercial database listings (SENSIS Pty. Ltd.) in 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2011. Measures of spatial exposure to food outlets were generated for each address at each time point. Results: Established areas had a greater density and proximity to all food outlet types compared with new developments. Density and proximity of food outlets increased over time within established and new developments. Established areas had a greater relative percentage of healthy food outlets compared with new developments. Conclusions: Compared with established areas, people living in new residential developments may be disadvantaged with fewer opportunities to purchase healthy food and greater relative exposure to unhealthy food. Public health policy aimed at increasing the “healthiness” of the CFE in new residential developments, may be an important step towards improving nutrition-related health outcomes.

  1. Miller, L. J., Joyce, S., Carter, S., & Yun, G. (2014). Associations between childhood obesity and the availability of food outlets in the local environment: a retrospective cross-sectional study. American Journal of Health Promotion, 28 (6), e137-e145.