Food availability and access: central issues for public health nutrition
Access to healthy food is an important determinant of optimal nutrition status in any context, and remains an important focus for public health nutrition practice and research. Because food access is influenced by many factors (such as availability, affordability and consumer knowledge, to name a few), measurement and analysis of food accessibility is an ongoing challenge. In this issue, Anderson et al.Reference Anderson, Dewar, Marshall, Cummins, Taylor and Dawson1 present a paper identifying key food items to include in a tool designed to assess food access, including consideration of the vexing issue of defining what is ‘healthy food’.
Supermarkets continue to be major access points for food in many countries and have an important influence on food and nutrient availability. Hamilton et al.Reference Hamilton, Ni Mhurchu and Priest2 report on an analysis of supermarket sales data in New Zealand as a basis for assessing food and nutrient availability. Results suggest this data source has considerable utility for the measurement and monitoring of food purchasing and consumption trends.
Naska et al.Reference Naska, Oikonomou, Trichopoulou, Wagner and Gedrich3 report on analysis of different approaches to estimate daily energy and nutrient availability based on household budget survey data from the European-based DAFNE project.
In a study of 3931 female Japanese dietetic students, Murakami et al.Reference Murakami, Sasaki, Okubo, Takahashi, Hosoi and Itabashi4 provide evidence that the affordability of food and nutrients affects actual consumption, but that this effect is difficult to interpret in terms of desirable effects on nutrient intake and body composition.
More fruit and vegetables
Fruit and vegetables remain at the forefront of dietary guidance worldwide, and research that explores the determinants of consumption and interventions that promote consumption are critical in order to effectively achieve desirable fruit and vegetable intakes. Two papers in this issue address a number of determinants of fruit and vegetable consumption. Gallaway et al.Reference Gallaway, Jago, Baranowski, Baranowski and Diamond5 report on a study of 473 boy scouts in the USA to identify psychosocial and demographic predictors of fruit, juice and vegetable consumption. Morland and FilomenaReference Morland and Filomena6 report on disparties in the availability of fruit and vegetables between racially segregated urban neighbourhoods in New York, reinforcing the importance of access and availability as determinants of consumption.
Interventions to promote fruit and vegetable consumption need to be effectively evaluated to inform better practice. Tak et al.Reference Tak, te Velde and Brug7 report on an evaluation of 1-year follow-up of a primary school free fruit and vegetable supply intervention and Slusser et al.Reference Slusser, Cumberland, Browdy, Lange and Neumann8 provide evidence on the effectiveness of introducing a salad bar at school lunch programmes in the USA. Both studies again illustrate the importance of making fruit and vegetables available and accessible as a prelude to measurable increases in consumption.
Food insecurity measurement
Nord and HopwoodReference Nord and Hopwood9 present findings on a study assessing whether interview mode (telephone vs. in-person) affects the results of surveys that measure food security. It will be of interest to practitioners and researchers working in the area of food security to note that remote interview methods can be used with minor effects on data quality relative to more difficult and more expensive-to-conduct methods currently available.
