You are where you live: Food environment and obesity in Detroit

Abstract

A growing body of research in Detroit, MI, supports the complex relationship between the city’s urban food environment and its obesity epidemic. The Detroit Community Health Assessment identified lower life expectancy and increased obesity prevalence among Detroit residents compared to the state of Michigan, spurring ineffective policy that attributes poor health outcomes to factors at the individual level rather than the population level. This article explores inequitable healthy food access in Detroit in relation to obesity, analyzing the city’s urban food environment in the context of historical disinvestment. This comprehensive literature review was performed utilizing journal articles from large electronic databases including PubMed. Current research identifies socioeconomic status as a key determinant in equitable healthy food access in urban food environments, suggesting the decision to procure a healthier diet is constrained more so by affordability than preference. The evidence proposes subsidization of healthy foods at farmers’ markets or community gardening initiatives as beneficial solutions to addressing the healthy food inequity in Detroit.