Rural and urban differences in the associations between characteristics of the community food environment and fruit and vegetable intake

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

To examine the relationship between measures of the household and retail food environments and fruit and vegetable (FV) intake in both urban and rural environmental contexts. Design: A cross-sectional design was used. Data for FV intake and other characteristics were collected via survey instrument and geocoded to the objective food environment based on a ground-truthed (windshield audit) survey of the retail food environment. Setting: One urban and 6 contiguous rural counties. Participants: This study involved 2,556 residents of the Brazos Valley, Texas, who were selected through random-digit dialing. Main Outcome Measure: Two-item scale of FV intake. Analysis: Data were analyzed using chi-square analysis, 2-sample . t tests, and linear regression. Results: Distance to supermarket or supercenter was insignificant in the urban model, but significant in the rural model (. β = -.014, . P < .010, confidence interval = -.024, -.003). Conclusions and Implications: Retail food environments have different impacts on FV intake in urban and rural settings. Interventions to improve FV intake in these settings should account for the importance of distance to the retail food environment in rural settings.

Original languageEnglish
JournalJournal of Nutrition Education and Behavior
Volume43
Issue number6
Pages (from-to)426-433
Number of pages8
ISSN1499-4046
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2011
Externally publishedYes

    Research areas

  • Food security, Fruit and vegetable intake, Retail food environment, Rural and urban population

ID: 255456527