Neighborhood Vulnerability and the Consumer Food Environment in an Urban Area

Cecilia Craveiro, Mariana Lopes, Patricia Freitas and Aline Lopes ()
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Cecilia Craveiro: Grupo de Pesquisa de Intervenções em Nutrição, Departamento de Nutrição, Campus I, Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Federal da Paraíba, Cidade Universitária, João Pessoa 58051-900, PB, Brazil
Mariana Lopes: Grupo de Pesquisa de Intervenções em Nutrição, Departamento de Nutrição, Campus I, Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Federal da Paraíba, Cidade Universitária, João Pessoa 58051-900, PB, Brazil
Patricia Freitas: Grupo de Pesquisa de Intervenções em Nutrição, Universidade Federal dos Vales do Jequitinhonha e Mucuri, Nutrition Building JK Campus, Highway BR 367, Km 583, s/n, Alto da Jacuba District, Diamantina 39100-000, MG, Brazil
Aline Lopes: Grupo Pesquisa de Intervenções em Nutrição, Departamento de Nutrição, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Escola de Enfermagem, de 190 Alfredo Balena Avenue, Room 316, Santa Efigênia, Belo Horizonte 30130-100, MG, Brazil

IJERPH, 2025, vol. 22, issue 2, 1-15

Abstract: The consumer food environment is an important medium for understanding complex interactions regarding food consumption, health outcomes and social vulnerability. We aimed to analyze the diversity, variety and quality of natural and ultra-processed foods in a Brazilian metropolis. We performed a cross-sectional study, analyzing food stores within a buffer (1600 m) area around 18 randomly selected Health Promotion Program units. We used descriptive analyses and regression models, adjusted by the area’s population, to examine associations of consumer food environment variables with the health vulnerability (HVI) of the territory and store type. Low HVI areas had higher fruits and vegetables variety adequacy and better quality, when compared to medium and high/very high HVI areas ( p -value < 0.001 and p -value = 0.001). Supermarkets in low HVI areas had almost twice the prevalence of adequate vegetable variety (65.2% vs. 33.3% in high/very high HVI areas, p -value = 0.005). Adjusted by population, areas with high/very high HVI had lower odds of adequate fruit variety when compared to low HVI areas (OR = 0.06; CI 95% = 0.01–0.44; p -value = 0.006). Although consumer preference is important in food acquisition, disparities in quality, diversity and variety within the consumer food environment could lead to difficulties in access to healthy options for vulnerable populations.

Keywords: access to healthy foods; public policies; socioeconomic disparities in health; fruit; vegetables (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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