Overview
Food environment factors--such as store/restaurant proximity,
food prices, food and nutrition assistance programs, and community
characteristics--interact to influence food choices and diet
quality. Research is beginning to document the complexity of these
interactions, but more is needed to identify causal relationships
and effective policy interventions.
The objectives of the Atlas are:
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to assemble statistics on food environment indicators to
stimulate research on the determinants of food choices and diet
quality, and
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to provide a spatial overview of a community's ability to access
healthy food and its success in doing so.
