Food access in Wilmington, Delaware: a spatial analysis

White, Harvey L.Health implications associated with food access are of grave importance, as the state of one’s well-being has layered components – mental physical, social, intellectual, and environmental, of which nutrition is entangled. Research regarding food access, or lack thereof, suggests the lived-environment influences consumption. Limited availability can translate to poor dietary intake and subsequent risk of disease, chronic conditions, and morbidity. Discussion of food deserts often involve urban areas where people, mainly minority and low-income, do not have affordable, healthy food access. A universal definition of food desert does not exist, but commonly implicated are economic and geographic barriers to healthy foods. Environmental conditions prevalent among food availability include socioeconomic factors -income, education, employment, and race- that impact weight and health. Increasingly, public, private, and not-for-profit organizations have turned their attention to the concerns of health inequality and nutrition-related chronic disease. The prevalence of obesity, particularly among low-income populations, is of global concern. This study provides a spatial examination of retail food access in Wilmington, Delaware, a predominantly African-American community, the majority of which is female-headed households living below the poverty level. This spatial examination describes how objects (retail food outlets) fit together in space (Wilmington, Delaware). It includes the association with socioeconomic factors that impact health within twenty-four (24) census tracts that comprise the City of Wilmington. The objective is to explore the extent to which food access affects minority population segments. Census tract data from American Community Fact Finder (2013 ACS 5-yr estimate) is used for socioeconomic demographic and socioeconomic analysis. PolicyMap provided the spatial map output of retail food outlets, socioeconomic characteristics, and health outcomes – diabetes, stroke, hypertension, and obesity. Spatial analysis, as illustrated in this study of food access in Wilmington, Delaware is a useful tool in policy-making as it can offer visual images of specified characteristics to tell a story and assist with identifying target areas for health-related interventions. The results of the study indicate that as the percentage of minority population increases, access and availability decreases. Moreover, as the concentration of African-American increases, access to full service supermarkets decreases.University of Delaware, School of Public Policy and AdministrationM.A