Distance to Supermarket in Food Deserts May Not Make a Difference - New AAEA Member Research
Milwaukee, WI (PRWEB) December 18, 2015 -- For years the theory on why people living in food deserts suffer from obesity has been how far they live from supermarkets offering healthy food options.
Now a new study shows distance may not make any difference.
In his paper, “Food Desert and Weight Outcome: Disentangling Confounding Mechanisms,” Di Zeng of the University of Arkansas finds the choices people make could be much more of a factor than the food options in their neighborhood.
“If you are living close to a supermarket and you like junk food you can actually be heavier,” Zeng says. “Just because you live near a supermarket doesn’t mean you’ll eat more fruits and vegetables just like if you live near a convenient store you’ll eat more junk food.”
Zeng says choice is just one of the keys in this study that has a message for policy makers. Zeng will present this research at an AAEA session of the 2016 Allied Social Sciences Association Annual Meeting (ASSA) in San Francisco, California, January 3-5.
The session will be held Monday, January 4, at 8:00 a.m. (PST) at the San Francisco Marriott Marquis (Room Sierra C).
Jay Saunders, AAEA, +1 414-918-3190, [email protected]
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