Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36274648›Full record

ArticlePublic health nutrition2023

Food availability and affordability in a Mediterranean urban context: associations by store type and area-level socio-economic status.

Carlos Fernández-Escobar, Julia Díez, Alba Martínez-García, Usama Bilal, Martin O'Flaherty, Manuel Franco

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Article in Public health nutrition, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

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0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Carlos Fernández-EscobarNational School of Public Health, Institute of Health Carlos III, Madrid, Spain.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7361-3383
Julia DíezPublic Health and Epidemiology Research Group, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares, Spain.
Alba Martínez-GarcíaDepartment of Community Nursing, Preventive Medicine and Public Health and History of Science, University of Alicante, 03690Alicante, Spain.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7724-6346
Usama BilalUrban Health Collaborative and Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Dornsife School of Public Health, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Martin O'FlahertyDepartment of Public Health, Policy and Systems, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK.
Manuel FrancoPublic Health and Epidemiology Research Group, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares, Spain.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveAlthough food environments have been highlighted as potentially effective targets to improve population diets, evidence on Mediterranean food environments is lacking. We examined differences in food availability and affordability in Madrid (Spain) by store type and area-level socio-economic status (SES).

designCross-sectional study. Trained researchers conducted food store audits using the validated Nutrition Environment Measures Survey in Stores for Mediterranean contexts (NEMS-S-MED) tool to measure the availability and price of twelve food groups (specific foods = 35). We computed NEMS-S-MED scores and summarised price data with a Relative Price Index (RPI, comparing prices across stores) and an Affordability Index (normalising prices by area-level income). We compared the availability and affordability of 'healthier-less healthy' food pairs, scores between food store types (supermarkets, specialised, convenience stores and others) and area-level SES using ANOVA and multi-level regression models.

settingCity of Madrid. 2016 and 2019 to cover a representative sample.

participantsFood stores within a socio-economically diverse sample of sixty-three census tracts (

resultsSupermarkets had higher food availability (37·5/49 NEMS-S-MED points), compared to convenience stores (13·5/49) and specialised stores (8/49). Supermarkets offered lower prices (RPI: 0·83) than specialised stores (RPI: 0·97) and convenience stores (RPI: 2·06). Both 'healthy' and 'less healthy' items were more available in supermarkets. We found no differences in food availability or price by area-level SES, but affordability was higher in higher-income areas.

conclusionsSupermarkets offered higher food availability and affordability for healthy and less healthy food items. Promoting healthy food availability through supermarkets and specialised stores and/or limiting access to convenience stores are promising policy options to achieve a healthier food environment.

Indexed as

Food availabilityFood environmentFood pricesNEMS-S-MED

Identifiers

PMID36274648
PMCPMC13076083

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.