California's Food Landscape Encourages Obesity: New Research Tools Monitors Retail Food Environment

When Californians step out their door, they are four times more likely to find a fast food joint than a grocery or produce store, according to a study released Jan. 19 by the California Center for Public Health Advocacy.

"Ready access to healthy foods like fruits and vegetables is critical to Californians struggling to address the state's out of control obesity crisis," said Dr. Harold Goldstein, CCPHA's executive director. "Sadly, fast-food outlets and convenience stores far outnumber healthier food outlets in major cities and counties throughout California, making the hunt for nutritious options a daunting challenge."

The study, "Searching for Healthy Food: The Food Landscape in California Cities and Counties," finds growing evidence that the likelihood of people being obese is influenced by the "food environment" in which they live.

For the study, CCPHA, a nonprofit, non-partisan organization, gathered an inventory of supermarkets, produce vendors, convenience stores and fast-food restaurants in cities and counties in California with populations more than 250,000.

By contrasting the number of outlets likely to offer healthier food options like fruits and vegetables with the number of fast food and convenience stores, the study creates a local Retail Food Environment Index (RFEI). The higher the RFEI index, the less likely consumers will find healthy food options.

California has 14,823 fast food restaurants and 6,659 convenience stores, but only has 3,853 supermarkets and 1,292 produce stands, giving it an RFEI of 4.18, according to the study.

"There is growing evidence that a community's food landscape has a potent influence on the health of its residents," observes Goldstein.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than half of all California adults are either obese or overweight, both health conditions associated with increased risk of morbidity and mortality from such chronic problems as cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

Kenna Stormagipson, a teacher at Oakland Technical High School in West Oakland, said that there "is a lot of obesity among her students, as well as the adults in the community." The nearest grocery store carrying fresh produce in West Oakland is nearly two miles away, say residents there.

Stormagipson said that even though Oakland Technical cafeteria serves healthful food, many of the students prefer to go out and buy the readily available junk food from neighborhood stores because they have gotten accustomed to eating such food.

"And then they wonder why they can't focus after lunch," Stormagipson said.

The CCPHA study for the first time offers California cities and counties a way to compare their communities with others in the state, Goldstein said.

At 5.72, San Bernadino County has the highest RFEI among California counties. Other counties with more than five times the number of unhealthy retail food options as healthy food options include Sacramento (5.66), Fresno (5.34), Orange (5.13), and Solano (5.03),
according to the study. Santa Cruz County recorded the state's lowest RFEI (1.84).

Of the 13 cities analyzed, two had at least six times the number of fast-food restaurants and convenience stores as supermarkets and produce vendors -- Bakersfield (6.63) and Fresno (6.23). Long Beach and Riverside had at least five times the number, while Oakland and San Francisco were the only two large cities whose retail food environment indices, at 3.81 and 3.85, respectively, were lower than the state average.

"It is time for California to shift the balance," Goldstein said. "We need state and local leaders to take a closer look in their own backyard and enact policies to make it as easy for Californians to find healthy food when they walk out their doors as it now is to find unhealthy foods."

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who recently unveiled a plan that will provide health care coverage to all of the state's 36 million residents, said the CCPHA study "illustrates why a key component in my comprehensive health care reform proposal is an obesity prevention initiative.

"Obesity is a leading cause of preventable deaths and an economic drain on the state. With everyone -- families, schools, the public and private sectors -- teaming up on innovative strategies to provide more nutritious food options and increase access to physical activity, we can lead the nation in tackling the obesity crisis by creating healthier communities."

New America Media, News Report, Viji Sundaram, Posted: Jan 19, 2007

Editor's Note: Fast food stores outnumber healthier eating options all across the state, according to a new study released Jan. 19. Viji Sundaram is health editor for New America Media.