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Demographic and income disparities may impact food accessibility. Research has not yet well documented the precise location of healthy and unhealthy food resources around children’s homes and schools. The objective of this study was to examine the food environment around homes and schools for all public school children, stratified by race/ethnicity and poverty status. This cross-sectional study linked data on the exact home and school addresses of a population-based sample of public school children in New York City from 2013 to all corner stores, supermarkets, fast-food restaurants, and wait-service restaurants. Two measures were created around these addresses for all children: 1) distance to the nearest outlet, and 2) count of outlets within 0.25 miles. The total analytic sample included 789,520 K-12 graders. The average age was 11.78 years (SD ± 4.0 years). Black, Hispanic, and Asian students live and attend schools closer to nearly all food outlet types than White students, regardless of poverty status. Among not low-income students, Black, Hispanic, and Asian students were closer from home and school to corner stores and supermarkets, and had more supermarkets around school than White students. The context in which children live matters, and more nuanced data is important for development of appropriate solutions for childhood obesity. Future research should examine disparities in the food environment in other geographies and by other demographic characteristics, and then link these differences to health outcomes like body mass index. These findings can be used to better understand disparities in food access and to help design policies intended to promote healthy eating among children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Food insecurity is associated with a wide array of negative health outcomes and higher health care costs but there has been no population-based study of the association of food insecurity and mortality in high-income countries. Methods: We use cross-sectional population surveys linked to encoded health administrative data. The sample is 90,368 adults, living in Ontario and respondents in the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS). The outcome of interest is all-cause mortality at any time after the interview and within four years of the interview. The primary variable of interest is food insecurity status, with individuals classed as “food secure”, “marginally food insecure”, “moderately food insecure”, or “severely food insecure”. We use logistic regression models to determine the association of mortality with food insecurity status, adjusting for other social determinants of health. Results: Using a full set of covariates, in comparison to food secure individuals, the odds of death at any point after the interview are 1.28 (CI = 1.08, 1.52) for marginally food insecure individuals, 1.49 (CI = 1.29, 1.73) for moderately food insecure individuals, and 2.60 (CI = 2.17, 3.12) for severely food insecure individuals. When mortality within four years of the interview is considered, the odds are, respectively, 1.19 (CI = 0.95, 1.50), 1.65 (CI = 1.37, 1.98), and 2.31 (CI = 1.81, 2.93). Interpretation: These findings demonstrate that food insecurity is associated with higher mortality rates and these higher rates are especially large for the most severe food insecurity category. Efforts to reduce food insecurity should be incorporated into broader public health initiatives to reduce mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]