ResearchResearch and Professional BriefPublic Directory Data Sources Do Not Accurately Characterize the Food Environment in Two Predominantly Rural States
Section snippets
Methods
Data for the current study were collected as part of a larger study of individual, family, and environmental influences on adolescent obesity in primarily rural and small town geographic areas of Northern New England. The study, titled “Environmental and Family Influences on Adolescent Overweight,” was approved by the Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects at Dartmouth College.
Results and Discussion
The sampling area covered 1,237.6 square miles, encompassing 7% of the total combined land area in New Hampshire and Vermont. Towns were well-distributed by population size: rural, n=11; small town, n=7; mid-sized town, n=8; and urban, n=6. Nine hundred and forty-three food outlets were identified through public directory listings and 960 through field observations. After accounting for overlap, this provided a sample of 1,340 unique food outlets. Twenty-seven percent were food markets and 73%
Conclusions
This study represents one of the largest samples of food outlets to date validated through field verification methods, identifying nearly 1,000 outlets in the primarily low-population sampling area. The sample included four distinct population patterns within a relatively small geographic area, and assessed eight types of food outlets, providing a comprehensive description of the regional food environment. The efficacy of using public directories to identify community food outlets in
M. R. Longacre is an instructor, Community Health Research Program, Hood Center for Children and Families, Department of Pediatrics, Dartmouth Medical School, Lebanon, NH.
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2012, American Journal of Preventive MedicineCitation Excerpt :Although this paper discusses limitations across the field of neighborhood research, longitudinal data have been used to provide many illustrative examples, largely because of the lack of comparable longitudinal data. These data may have errors, a well-recognized limitation in neighborhood environment research.97–103 In addition, although Add Health ONEdata offer the advantages of a large, nationally representative study population, these data do not capture unique aspects of small localities throughout the U.S. Combined knowledge from large national studies with studies in focused geographic areas and subpopulations is needed to understand how neighborhoods influence obesity across diverse populations.
M. R. Longacre is an instructor, Community Health Research Program, Hood Center for Children and Families, Department of Pediatrics, Dartmouth Medical School, Lebanon, NH.
B. A. Primack is an assistant professor, Divisions of General Internal Medicine and Adolescent Medicine, Departments of Medicine and Pediatrics, Center for Research on Health Care, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA.
P. M. Owens is an urban planner, Smart Mobility, Inc, Norwich, VT.
L. Gibson is principal, Smart Mobility, Inc, Norwich, VT.
S. Beauregard is an engineer, Smart Mobility, Inc, Norwich, VT.
T. A. Mackenzie is an associate professor, Community Health Research Program, Hood Center for Children and Families, Departments of Community and Family Medicine and Medicine, Dartmouth Medical School, Lebanon, NH.
M. A. Dalton is a professor, Community Health Research Program, Hood Center for Children and Families, Departments of Pediatrics and Community and Family Medicine, Dartmouth Medical School, Lebanon, NH.