Neighborhood Food Environment Associated with Cardiometabolic Health among Predominately Low-income, Urban, Black Women.

Objectives: This study sought to: 1) understand how the perceived food environment (availability, accessibility, and affordability) is associated with cardiometabolic health outcomes in predominately low-income Black residents in urban neighborhoods with limited healthy food access; and 2) examine the association of shopping at specific store types with cardiometabolic health outcomes.

Methods: We report on cross-sectional data from 459 individuals participating in the Pittsburgh, PA Hill/Homewood Research on Neighborhoods and Health (PHRESH) study. Mean participant age was 60.7 (SD=13.9); 81.7% were female. We used logistic regression to examine associations between three factors (perceived fruit and vegetable availability, quality, and price; primary food shopping store characteristics; and frequency of shopping at stores with low or high access to healthy foods) and cardiometabolic and self-rated health.

Results: Adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics, participants with higher perceived fruit and vegetable accessibility (AOR:.47, 95%CI: .28-.79, P=.004) and affordability (AOR:.59, 95%CI: .36-.96, P=.034) had lower odds of high blood pressure. Shopping often (vs rarely) at stores with low access to healthy foods was associated with higher odds of high total cholesterol (AOR:3.52, 95%CI: 1.09-11.40, P=.035). Finally, primary food shopping at a discount grocery (vs full-service supermarket) was associated with lower odds of overweight/obesity (AOR:.51, 95%CI: .26-.99, P=.049).

Conclusions: These results suggest that both perceived accessibility and affordability of healthy foods are associated with reduced cardiometabolic risk factors in this urban, low-income predominantly Black population. Additionally, discount grocery stores may be particularly valuable by providing access and affordability of healthy foods in this population.