Access to Nutritious Foods

Absence of Supermarkets

Low SES individuals disproportionately live in areas with fewer large supermarkets than their higher income counterparts. Middle- and upper-income neighborhoods have more than twice as many supermarkets per capita than low-income neighborhoods. Residents of low SES neighborhoods are more reliant on smaller shops, convenience stores, and bodegas to acquire food. As such, compared to people living in higher-income areas, residents of low-income urban neighborhoods have limited access to high-quality food, enjoy fewer options in the variety of goods that are available to them, and pay higher prices for the groceries that are available.

Limited Availability of Healthy Foods

Food availability in grocery stores is related to the diets of residents in the area of the store. Small corner stores typically do not sell the great a breadth of foods as do larger supermarkets, and available food choices tend to be more costly. Because of slower stock turnover, corner stores tend to stock more nonperishable foods than do larger supermarkets. These items require little sales experience to sell, and do not spoil or need care. As such, individuals residing in areas where corner stores provide the only available food choices may be confronted with the inability to access healthy foods, because those foods are not on their store shelves or are not affordable choices.

Inadequate Transportation

Residents of many low SES communities lack access to a supermarket within a reasonable walking distance of their homes. This group may also experience difficulty traveling to distant shopping facilities because of a lack of private transportation. Without cars, residents must depend on public transit, taxis, or friends to travel to supermarkets outside of their neighborhoods. Even with sufficient public transportation, transporting large, heavy bags of groceries can be difficult on buses or subways. Taxi services are costly and friends are often unavailable or unreliable. Therefore, absence of proximate supermarkets often represents an inability to purchase nutritious, affordable food, particularly fresh fruits, vegetables, and other perishables. Healthy diets are compromised, contributing to a high prevalence of obesity.

The availability of nutritious foods is directly related to the number of supermarkets in the area of people's homes.

Ready Availability of Fast Food

While the abundance of fast-food restaurants in low SES neighborhoods may provide a source of convenient and relatively cheap, tasty food, these establishments typically do not offer nutritious foods such as fresh fruit and vegetables. Instead, a typical fast-food meal is very calorie dense. Individuals who eat at fast-food restaurants tend to consume more fats, sugars, and carbohydrates and fewer fruits and nonstarchy vegetables than individuals who do not eat fast food.

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