Neighborhood Economic Changes After the Great Recession and Home Food Environments

Abstract

Objective. Home food environments are important contexts for children and their food intake. It is unknown whether neighborhood economic context plays a role in explaining the association between a national economic crisis and children’s home food environments. This study attempts to investigate neighborhood economic changes after the Great Recession and their associations with home food environments. Method. Using data from the Geographic Research on Wellbeing survey (2012-2013), we conducted a series of logistic regression analyses to examine the association between neighborhood changes after the Great Recession and home food environments. Results. Findings showed that neighborhood economic changes after the Great Recession were concentrated in poor neighborhoods. In addition, our findings demonstrated that poor families residing in neighborhoods severely affected by the Great Recession were vulnerable to less availability of fruits and vegetables in the home after the Great Recession. Discussion. Findings imply that public health interventions aiming to improve home food environments should include strategies at the national and neighborhood levels as well as the family level. A priority population for public health interventions should be poor families living in disadvantaged neighborhoods.