SynthesisInternational journal of health geographics2018
Food environments and dietary intakes among adults: does the type of spatial exposure measurement matter? A systematic review.
Synthesis in International journal of health geographics, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 66 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
66 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Global positioning system-based food environment exposures, diet-related, and cardiometabolic health outcomes: a systematic review and research agenda.International journal of health geographics · 2024Pooled it
- Gravity models for potential spatial healthcare access measurement: a systematic methodological review.International journal of health geographics · 2023Pooled it
- Relation between the food environment and oral health-systematic review.European journal of public health · 2022Pooled it
- The impact of the consumer and neighbourhood food environment on dietary intake and obesity-related outcomes: A systematic review of causal impact studies.Social science & medicine (1982) · 2022Pooled it
- A Systematic Review on Socioeconomic Differences in the Association between the Food Environment and Dietary Behaviors.Nutrients · 2019Pooled it
- Urban Foodscape in Transition: Spatiotemporal Characteristics in Healthy and Unhealthy Food Outlets and Socioeconomic Disparities in Wuhan During 2012-2022.Journal of urban health : bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine · 2026Article
- Institutional fast-food availability and sustainable diet quality among shift workers: the mediating role of food environment capacity and the moderating effect of physical activity.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Geospatial variation and risk factors for malnutrition among postpartum women in rural Bangladesh.PLOS global public health · 2026Article
- Article
- Measurement tools to assess the obesogenic environment in neighborhood: a scoping review.BMC public health · 2025Article
- ¡Coma, Muévase y Viva!: qualitative findings from a dietary and lifestyle change intervention for Latinas in the rural desert region of Inland Southern California.BMC public health · 2025Article
- "I Shouldn't Have to Drive to the Suburbs": Grocery Store Access, Transportation, and Food Security in Detroit During the COVID-19 Pandemic.Nutrients · 2025Article
- Neighborhood Retail Food Environment, Diet Quality and Type 2 Diabetes Incidence in 4 Dutch Cohorts.The Journal of nutrition · 2025Article
- Neighbourhood exposure to fast-food and sit-down restaurants and estimated 24-hour urinary sodium excretion: a cross-sectional analysis of urban adults from the ORISCAV-LUX 2 study.Public health nutrition · 2025Article
- Neighbourhood out-of-home food environment, menu healthiness, and their associations with meal purchasing and diet quality: a multiverse analysis.Nutrition journal · 2025Article
- Diet, fruit and vegetables and One Health: benefits for health, environment, society and the consumer-proceedings of the 9th edition of EGEA conference.European journal of nutrition · 2025Article
- Food outlet availability differs according to area socioeconomic status in Denmark.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Defining household exposure to the food environment: A comparison of measures based on residential area and activity space.PloS one · 2025Article
- Measuring associations between the food environment and dietary habits: comparing the proportion and density of food outlets.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Association between snack intake behaviors of children and neighboring women: A population-based cross-sectional analysis with spatial regionalization.SSM - population health · 2024Article
6 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe relationships between food environments and dietary intake have been assessed via a range of methodologically diverse measures of spatial exposure to food outlets, resulting in a largely inconclusive body of evidence, limiting informed policy intervention.
objectiveThis systematic review aims to evaluate the influence of methodological choice on study outcomes by examining the within-study effect of availability (e.g., counts) versus accessibility (e.g., proximity) spatial exposure measures on associations with diet.
methods(PROSPERO registration: CRD42018085250). PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus and ScienceDirect databases were searched for empirical studies from 1980 to 2017, in the English language, involving adults and reporting on the statistical association between a dietary outcome and spatial exposure measures of both availability and accessibility. Studies were appraised using an eight-point quality criteria with a narrative synthesis of results.
resultsA total of 205 associations and 44 relationships (i.e., multiple measures of spatial exposure relating to a particular food outlet type and dietary outcome) were extracted from 14 eligible articles. Comparative measures were dominated by counts (availability) and proximity (accessibility). Few studies compared more complex measures and all counts were derived from place-based measures of exposure. Sixteen of the 44 relationships had a significant effect involving an availability measure whilst only 8 had a significant effect from an accessibility measure. The largest effect sizes in relationships were mostly for availability measures. After stratification by scale, availability measure had the greatest effect size in 139 of the 176 pairwise comparisons. Of the 33% (68/205) of associations that reached significance, 53/68 (78%) were from availability measures. There was no relationship between study quality and reported study outcomes.
conclusionsThe limited evidence suggests that availability measures may produce significant and greater effect sizes than accessibility measures. However, both availability and accessibility measures may be important concepts of spatial exposure depending on the food outlet type and dietary outcome examined. More studies reporting on multi-method effects are required to differentiate findings by the type of spatial exposure assessment and build an evidence base regarding the appropriateness and robustness of measures under different circumstances.
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Registered trials
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