Changes in the Retail Food Environment in Mexican Cities and Their Association with Blood Pressure Outcomes

Marina Armendariz, Carolina Pérez-Ferrer, Ana Basto-Abreu, Gina S. Lovasi, Usama Bilal and Tonatiuh Barrientos-Gutiérrez
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Marina Armendariz: Department of Public Health, University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78249, USA
Carolina Pérez-Ferrer: National Council for Science and Technology (CONACYT), Mexico City 03940, Mexico
Ana Basto-Abreu: Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública, Cuernavaca 62100, Mexico
Gina S. Lovasi: Dornsife School of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and Urban Health Collaborative, Drexel University, Phildadelphia, PA 19104, USA
Usama Bilal: Dornsife School of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and Urban Health Collaborative, Drexel University, Phildadelphia, PA 19104, USA
Tonatiuh Barrientos-Gutiérrez: Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública, Cuernavaca 62100, Mexico

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 3, 1-15

Abstract: Shifting food environments in Latin America have potentially contributed to an increase in the consumption of ultra-processed foods and sugar-sweetened beverages, along with decreases in healthy foods, such as fruits and vegetables. Yet, little is known about the impact that such changes in the food environment have on blood pressure in low- and middle-income countries, including Mexico. We utilized individual-level systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP and DBP) measures from the 2016 Mexican Health and Nutrition Survey (ENSANUT, n = 2798 adults). Using an inventory of food stores based on the economic census for 2010 and 2016, we calculated the change in the density of fruit and vegetable stores, convenience stores, and supermarkets. Multilevel regression was used to estimate the association between the 2010–2016 food environment neighborhood-level changes with individual-level blood pressure measured in 2016. Declines in neighborhood-level density of fruit and vegetable stores were associated with higher individual SBP (2.67 mmHg, 95% CI: 0.1, 5.2) in unadjusted models, and marginally associated after controlling for individual-level and area-level covariates. Increases in the density of supermarkets were associated with higher blood pressure outcomes among adults with undiagnosed hypertension. Structural interventions targeting the retail food environment could potentially contribute to better nutrition-related health outcomes in Latin American cities.

Keywords: food retail environment; blood pressure; Mexico; urban neighborhoods; nutrition policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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