Measures of the food environment: A systematic review of the field, 2007-2015.

Health Place

Department of Health Behavior, Campus Box 7440, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7440, United States.

Published: March 2017

Background: Many studies have examined the relationship between the food environment and health-related outcomes, but fewer consider the integrity of measures used to assess the food environment. The present review builds on and makes comparisons with a previous review examining food environment measures and expands the previous review to include a more in depth examination of reliability and validity of measures and study designs employed.

Methods: We conducted a systematic review of studies measuring the food environment published between 2007 and 2015. We identified these articles through: PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, PsycINFO, and Global Health databases; tables of contents of relevant journals; and the National Cancer Institute's Measures of the Food Environment website. This search yielded 11,928 citations. We retained and abstracted data from 432 studies.

Results: The most common methodology used to study the food environment was geographic analysis (65% of articles) and the domination of this methodology has persisted since the last review. Only 25.9% of studies in this review reported the reliability of measures and 28.2% reported validity, but this was an improvement as compared to the earlier review. Very few of the studies reported construct validity. Studies reporting measures of the school or worksite environment have decreased since the previous review. Only 13.9% of the studies used a longitudinal design.

Conclusions: To strengthen research examining the relationship between the food environment and population health, there is a need for robust and psychometrically-sound measures and more sophisticated study designs.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2016.12.007DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

food environment
32
previous review
12
environment
9
review
9
measures
8
measures food
8
systematic review
8
relationship food
8
study designs
8
review studies
8

Similar Publications

Precipitation recycling, where evapotranspiration (ET) from the land surface contributes to precipitation within the same region, is a critical component of the water cycle. This process is especially important for the US Corn Belt, where extensive cropland expansions and irrigation activities have significantly transformed the landscape and affected the regional climate. Previous studies investigating precipitation recycling typically relied on analytical models with simplifying assumptions, overlooking the complex interactions between groundwater hydrology and agricultural management.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Detection of glyphosate, glufosinate, and their metabolites in multi-floral honey for food safety.

Food Addit Contam Part A Chem Anal Control Expo Risk Assess

January 2025

Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science (DIVAS), University of Milan, Lodi, Italy.

Beehives can accumulate environmental contaminants as bees gather pollen, propolis, and water from their surroundings, contaminating hive products like honey. Moreover, in multifloral environments, bees can interact with plants treated with different pesticides, often causing higher pesticides concentrations in multi-floral honey than in mono-floral varieties. Glyphosate and glufosinate are both widely used herbicides.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Modern treatment, a healthy diet, and physical activity routines lower the risk factors for metabolic syndrome; however, this condition is associated with all-cause and cardiovascular mortality worldwide. This investigation involved a randomized controlled trial, double-blind, parallel study. Fifty-eight participants with risk factors of metabolic syndrome according to the inclusion criteria were randomized into two groups and given probiotics (Lacticaseibacillus paracasei MSMC39-1 and Bifidobacterium animalis TA-1) (n = 31) or a placebo (n = 27).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Climate change threatens smallholder agriculture and food security in the Global South. While cropland expansion is often used to counter adverse climate effects despite ecological trade-offs, the benefits for diets and nutrition remain unclear. This study quantitatively examines relationships between climate anomalies, forest loss from cropland expansion, and dietary outcomes in Nigeria, Africa's most populous country.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Arginine Metabolism Reprogramming in Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA)-Induced Liver Injury.

Environ Sci Technol

January 2025

State Key Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology, Research Center for Eco-Environment Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China.

Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) is a persistent pollutant that has gained worldwide attention, owing to its widespread presence in the environment. Previous studies have reported that PFOA upregulates lipid metabolism and is associated with liver injury in humans. However, when the fatty acid degradation pathway is activated, lipid accumulation still occurs, suggesting the presence of unknown pathways and mechanisms that remain to be elucidated.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!