Amidst growing concerns about obesity and the impact of food environments on public health, a new study challenges conventional wisdom about where we make unhealthy food choices. While efforts to combat “food deserts” and limit fast-food outlets near residential areas are widespread, research from Northeastern University suggests that the focus might be misplaced.
Professor Esteban Moro from the Network Science Institute at Northeastern University, lead author of the study published in Nature Communications, points out a surprising trend: “Most of the fast food in this country is consumed far away from home. This means that if we want to address the problem of unhealthy foods in our diet, we should be talking about what happens when we leave home.”
The research team, including colleagues from the University of Southern California and MIT, analyzed mobility data from 62 million individuals across 11 major American cities. Their analysis of fast-food visits revealed that, on average, people travel significantly further for fast food (4.3 miles) than for groceries (2 miles). Contrary to assumptions, the study also found that fast food consumption was not tied to specific socioeconomic demographics, suggesting a broader influence at play.
Moro emphasizes, “Food choice is influenced by the food environments people are exposed to as they move through their daily routines, mostly far away from home.” This highlights the importance of considering food environments beyond our immediate neighborhoods when addressing dietary habits.
The study’s findings underscore the powerful influence of exposure. Researchers discovered that a mere 10% increase in fast-food outlets in an area correlated with a 20% rise in the probability of individuals choosing fast food. This suggests that the more fast-food options we encounter during our daily commutes and activities, the more likely we are to indulge.
Researchers Abigail Horn and Kayla de la Haye from USC, co-authors of the study, note that current policies aimed at reducing unhealthy food access have primarily targeted residential areas, focusing on eliminating food deserts and food swamps – areas with limited healthy options or an overabundance of fast food. However, numerous studies have indicated that interventions like the Health Food Financing Initiative and fast-food bans in residential zones have proven ineffective in curbing obesity rates.
Instead of solely concentrating on “Food Near Home”, Moro and his team propose a shift in strategy. They advocate for interventions in locations that meet specific criteria: places where frequent food decisions are made, areas saturated with fast-food options compared to healthier alternatives, and crucially, locations where individuals’ food choices are most susceptible to the surrounding food environment.
Moro illustrates this with the example of airport terminals. Airports are high-traffic locations where people frequently need to eat, fast-food options are abundant, and individuals are often limited to the available choices within the terminal, especially if they wish to avoid re-entering security.
“The study found that by selecting those optimal locations, we can devise interventions that could have two-times to four-times larger effects on unhealthy food choices than traditional interventions that alter food deserts or food swamps around residential areas,” Moro explains. This suggests that strategic interventions in key locations beyond “food near home” could be significantly more impactful.
Other locations identified as potential intervention zones include shopping centers, office parks, and transportation hubs – places where people spend time outside their residential neighborhoods and make frequent food decisions.
“What we found is everybody’s consuming fast food,” Moro concludes. “And the environment we are exposed to is conditioning the food that we eat.” This research underscores the need to broaden our understanding of food environments and consider the influence of food options encountered throughout our daily lives, not just “food near home”, to effectively promote healthier eating habits.
