Food Geography:
How Food Access Affects Diet and Health
Introduction
In the United States, nutrition-related health problems are reaching epidemic levels. Reports from the Surgeon General indicate that the number of adults and children who are obese or at-risk for obesity has increased dramatically during the past decade. Furthermore, low-income and minority communities are by far the hardest hit as obesity and dietrelated disease rates skyrocket across America.1 Health disparities among US population groups are related to inequalities in socioeconomic status2 – disparities which may be affected by unequal access to healthy food.3, 4 Emerging evidence suggests that access to healthy food in neighborhoods is associated with a health-promoting diet 5, 6 and that poor access is associated with poor health outcomes.7 Mirroring national data, in Philadelphia many low-income and minority adults and children suffer from diet-related health problems at rates significantly higher than those of the city's population as a whole.8, 9 With the second lowest number of supermarkets per capita in the United States, Philadelphia and its residents struggle with the economic, social, and health impact of food retail disinvestment from urban communities. In many neighborhoods in Philadelphia, individuals and families struggle to maintain a healthy diet due to limited access to healthy food in their communities. In order to investigate the extent of access to food disparities within Philadelphia, The Food Trust, in partnership with the Philadelphia Health Management Corporation (PHMC), has analyzed data from PHMC's Community Health Data Base 2004 Southeastern Pennsylvania Household Health Survey to describe the nature of the problem in Philadelphia. Conducted in the summer of 2004, this telephone survey of more than 10,000 households in the region examines access to food among residents in Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia counties. Information regarding consumption of fruits and vegetables, perceptions of grocery quality and required travel to reach a supermarket is examined by age, race, poverty status, health status and by the City's twelve Planning Analysis Sections (PAS) designations.

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