The Food Environment Atlas presents statistics related to factors that may affect food choices (e.g., proximity of grocery stores, fast food restaurants), health indicators (e.g., adult diabetes, children obesity), and community indicators (e.g., ethnicity, poverty rate) with over 200 indicators.
You are commissioned to present an analysis and brief summary of the main food environment factors and health indicators in your state.

To gain experience working with the Food Environment Atlas, complete the Food Environment Atlas Scavenger Hunt. NOTE: For problem 2, you need 9 not 10 worksheet names.

Review the Microsoft Excel Tutorial modules Working with Data and Creating Charts to practice mathematical calculations and graphing in Excel.

Sample Answer To The Food Environment Atlas Case Study

The food environment Atlas Statistics Assignment

The Food Environment Atlas provides important food access data for both State and County population along with a spatial overview of food access and health indicators. This information on food and health is important for community learning and research purpose. The Food Environment Atlas is an interactive map which provides County and State level information on a wide variety of environment, health and food indicators related to health and well being. It provides a chance for the users to create their own maps of indicators showing how a given indicator within a County or State varies. This helps policy markers, students and researchers to project information on a range of factors that affect our health and food environment. Such indicators include statistics related to health and well being, food choices and community characteristics. The Food Environment Atlas provides a clear relationship between health and environment and how environment influence food choices (Troy, Miller & Olson, 2011).

In New York City for example, Food Environment Atlas helps students and researchers to identify counties that are hot spots for food system innovations. This can help to drill down using a relevant data from the atlas and establish how the food and environmental networks are being established in these counties and their ramifications for other indicators. Some of the main environmental factors and health indicators in Network City include

  • Adult diabetes rate
  • Low-income preschool obesity rate
  • Farm to school program
  • Recreation & fitness facilities
  • Agritourism operations
  • Vegetable acres harvested for fresh market per1,000 population
  • Greenhouse vegetable and fresh herb farms
  • Household food insecurity
  • Child & Adult Care
  • Students free-lunch eligible
  • Low income & low access to store
  • Persistent child poverty counties
  • Poverty rate
  • % Population 65 years or older
  • Median household income,
  • Direct farm sales per capita
  • General food sales tax, retail stores
  • Population, low access to store

Food Environment Atlas Scavenger Hunt

Part 1

1. What can you find in the “Supplemental Data – County” worksheet?

– Census Population

– population estimates

– County name

– FIPS code

– State

2. What are the names of the 10 worksheets that include all the Food Environment Atlas categories of variables?

– Supplemental Data- State

– Access

– Assistance

– Health

– Insecurity

– Local

– Price Taxes

– Restaurants

– Socioeconomic

– Stores

– Variable List

3. In which worksheet can you find the full name of variables?

-variable list

4. What are the names of the following variables from the category ACCESS, and their unit of measurement?

a. LACCESS_SENIORS10:

– Seniors, low access to store, 2010

– Unit of measure is Count

b. PCT_LACCESS_HHNV10:

– Households, no car & low access to store (%), 2010

– Unit of measure is Percent

5. What are the names of the following variables from the category HEALTH?

a. PCT_DIABETES_ADULTS10:

– Adult diabetes rate, 2010

b. RECFACPTH11:

– Recreation & fitness facilities/1,000 pop, 2011

6. Find the units of measurement for the following variables:

Example: LACCESS_POP10: Number of persons (count)

a. LACCESS_SENIORS10:

– Number of Seniors (count)

b. GROC07:

– Number of grocery available (count)

c. GROC11:

– Number of grocery store available (count)

d. PCH_GROC_07_11:

– Percentage change in the number of grocery from 2007 to 2001 (% change)

e. PCT_DIABETES_ADULTS10:

– The percentage of adult suffering from diabetes in 2010 (percent)

f. PC_FSRSALES07:

– Restaurant expenditure per capita (dollars)

Scavenger Hunt Part II: Finding definitions in the Food Atlas Documentation

7. How is low-access defined in ACCESS variables?

The number of people in a county living more than 1 mile from a large grocery or supermarket if in an urban area, or more than 10 miles from a supermarket or large grocery if in a rural area

8. What does the variable named “Households, no car & low access to store (%)”, 2010 (PCT_LACCESS_HHNV10) measure?

Measures the percentage of households in 2010 without a car and living 1 mile from a grocery store or supermarket or 10 miles from a supermarket or grocery store if in a rural area

9. How are these different measures of state food insecurity defined?

a. Household food insecurity

Prevalence of household level of food insecurity by State. Food-insecure households were unable at a certain period during the year to provide one or more household members with adequate food due to household lack of money and other resources for food.

b. Household very low food security

Prevalence of household-level very low food security by State. In households with very low food security, food intake of one or more members was reduced and eating patterns were disrupted at times during the year because of insufficient money and other resources for food.

10. How is adult obesity rate defined in the Food Atlas?

It is an estimate of age-adjusted percentage of persons age 20 and older who are obese, where obesity is Body Mass Index (BMI) greater than or equal to 30 kilograms per meters.

Reference

Troy, L., Miller, E., & Olson, S. (2011). Hunger and obesity. Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press.