Samina Raja

Beyond Food Deserts Measuring and Mapping Racial Disparities in Neighborhood Food Environments

Given the emerging focus on improving food environments and food systems through planning, this article investigates racial disparities in neighborhood food environments. An empirical case of Erie County, New York tests the hypothesis that people belonging to different racial groups have access to different neighborhood food destinations. Using multiple methods—Gini coefficients and Poisson regression—we show that contrary to studies elsewhere in the country there are no food deserts in Erie County. However, like other studies, we find an absence of supermarkets in neighborhoods of color when compared to white neighborhoods. Nonetheless, our study reveals an extensive network of small grocery stores in neighborhoods of color. Rather than soliciting supermarkets, supporting small, high-quality grocery stores may be a more efficient strategy for ensuring access to healthful foods in minority neighborhoods.

Reducing Sedentary Behavior The Relationship Between Park Area and the Physical Activity of Youth

This study was designed to determine whether the characteristics of the neighborhood environment are related to the substitution of physical activity for sedentary behavior among youth. Fifty-eight 8- to 15-year-old youth were studied in a within-subjects crossover design with three phases: baseline, increased sedentary behavior, and decreased sedentary behavior. The relations between changes in physical activity and design, diversity, and density attributes of the neighborhood environment were determined using random coefficient models. Compared with girls, boys showed greater increases in physical activity when sedentary behaviors were reduced and greater decreases in physical activity when sedentary behaviors were increased. Greater access to parks was associated with greater physical activity when sedentary behaviors were reduced.

Purchases of Food in Youth Influence of Price and Income

One way to increase choice of healthy over unhealthy behaviors is to increase the cost of less healthy alternatives or reduce the cost of healthier alternatives. The influence of price on purchases of healthy and unhealthy foods was evaluated in two laboratory experiments. In Experiment 1, thirty-two 10- to 12-year-old youth were given

The Built Environment Moderates Effects of Family-Based Childhood Obesity Treatment over 2 Years

5.00 and allowed to purchase multiple portions of a healthy food (fruit or vegetable) and a less healthy food (higher-fat snack). The price of one type of food varied from

Food Environment, Built Environment, and Women’s BMI: Evidence from Erie County, New York

0.50 to

Leveraging Neighborhood-Scale Change for Policy and Program Reform in Buffalo, New York

2.50, while the price of the other type was held at

Neighbourhood for playing: using GPS, GIS and accelerometry to delineate areas within which youth are physically active

1.00. Increasing the price of a type of food reduced purchases of that type of food, but did not lead to substitution with the alternative type of food. In Experiment 2, twenty 10- to 14-year-old youth were given

Neighbourhood parks and reduction in stress among adolescents: results from Buffalo, New York.

1.00,

Got perspective? A theoretical view of fiscal impact analysis

3.00, and

Beneficial but Constrained: Role of Urban Agriculture Programs in Supporting Healthy Eating Among Youth

5.00 to purchase healthy and unhealthy foods. The price of each food was raised and lowered by 25% and 50%. Raising the price of healthy or unhealthy foods resulted in decreased purchases of those foods, and income available interacted with price to predict the pattern of substitution of alternative foods. These results show the potential for controlled laboratory studies of price and food purchases, and show that the substitution of healthier for unhealthy food is related to available money.