The local food environment and diet: a systematic review
Open accessAbstract
Despite growing attention to the problem of obesogenic environments, there has not been a comprehensive review evaluating the food environment-diet relationship. This study aims to evaluate this relationship in the current literature, focusing specifically on the method of exposure assessment (GIS, survey, or store audit). This study also explores 5 dimensions of "food access" (availability, accessibility, affordability, accommodation, acceptability) using a conceptual definition proposed by Penchansky and Thomas (1981). Articles were retrieved through a systematic keyword search in Web of Science and supplemented by the reference lists of included studies. Thirty-eight studies were reviewed and categorized by the exposure assessment method and the conceptual dimensions of access it captured. GIS-based measures were the most common measures, but were less consistently associated with diet than other measures. Few studies examined dimensions of affordability, accommodation, and acceptability. Because GIS-based measures on their own may not capture important non-geographic dimensions of access, a set of recommendations for future researchers is outlined.
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Public health studies have found that food environments matter for people's food choices to at least some extent, impacting the quality of their diets and health outcomes.
“Public health studies have found that food environments matter for people ' s food choices to at least some extent, impacting the quality of their diets and health outcomes (Westbury et al. 2021; Caspi et al. 2012).”
From Corporate concentration and power matter for agency in food systems (2025) · cites this paper as Caspi et al. 2012
The Discussion (Overview; page unavailable) reports moderate evidence that neighborhood food environments influence dietary health, and the Results (Results by dietary outcome; page unavailable) describe associations with food consumption and diet-quality measures. The review does not establish effects on health outcomes beyond diet; its Introduction notes that other reviews focused on obesity. (LLM, conf=0.86)
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References 67 · Cited by 1,404
- Authors
- Caspi, C. E., Sorensen, G., Subramanian, S. V., & Kawachi, I.
- Affiliations
- Harvard University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Caspi, Caitlin E.
- Venue
- Health & Place
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2012-09
- Volume
- 18
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 1172-1187
- ISSN
- 1353-8292 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC3684395
- OpenAlex
- W2073378182
- Cited by
- 1,404
- References
- 67
- Citations by year
- 2026: 85 · 2025: 109 · 2024: 97 · 2023: 121 · 2022: 139 · 2021: 147 · 2020: 143 · 2019: 135 · 2018: 96 · 2017: 103 · 2016: 78 · 2015: 67 · 2014: 43 · 2013: 34 · 2012: 5
- FWCI
- 7.25
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Health & Place (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Digital Access to Scholarship at Harvard (DASH) (Harvard University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- National Cancer Institute (K05CA108663)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Food Security and Health in Diverse Populations
- Social Sciences › Transportation › Urban Transport and Accessibility
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Nutrition, Health and Food Behavior
- Keywords
- local food environment, diet, food access, obesogenic environment, exposure assessment methods, geographic information systems, food availability, food affordability, food acceptance
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Child, Child, Preschool, Diet, Female, Food Supply, Humans, Male, Middle Aged
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