The quality of OpenStreetMap food-related point-of-interest data for use in epidemiological research.

We assessed the quality of food-related OpenStreetMap (OSM) data in urban areas of five European countries. We calculated agreement statistics between point-of-interests (POIs) from OSM and from Google Street View (GSV) in five European regions. We furthermore assessed correlations between exposure measures (distance and counts) from OSM data and administrative data from local data sources on food environment data in three European countries. Agreement between POI data in OSM compared to GSV was poor, but correlations were moderate to high between exposures from OSM and local data sources. OSM data downloaded in 2020 seems to be an acceptable source of data for generating count-based food exposure measures for research in selected European regions.

The association between the food environment and adherence to healthy diet quality: the Maastricht Study.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to determine if healthier neighbourhood food environments are associated with healthier diet quality. DESIGN: This was a cross-sectional study using linear regression models to analyse data from the Maastricht Study. Diet quality was assessed using data collected with a FFQ to calculate the Dutch Healthy Diet (DHD). A buffer zone encompassing a 1000 m radius was created around each participant home address. The Food Environment Healthiness Index (FEHI) was calculated using a Kernel density analysis within the buffers of available food outlets. The association between the FEHI and the DHD score was analysed and adjusted for socio-economic variables. SETTING: The region of Maastricht including the surrounding food retailers in the Netherlands. PARTICIPANTS: 7367 subjects aged 40-75 years in the south of the Netherlands. RESULTS: No relationship was identified between either the FEHI (B = 0·62; 95 % CI = -2·54, 3·78) or individual food outlets, such as fast food (B = -0·07; 95 % CI = -0·20, 0·07) and diet quality. Similar null findings using the FEHI were identified at the 500 m (B = 0·95; 95 % CI = -0·85, 2·75) and 1500 m (B = 1·57; 95 % CI = -3·30, 6·44) buffer. There was also no association between the food environment and individual items of the DHD including fruits, vegetables and sugar-sweetened beverages. CONCLUSION: The food environment in the Maastricht area appeared marginally unhealthy, but the differences in the food environment were not related to the quality of food that participants reported as intake.

Neighborhood Availability and Use of Food, Physical Activity, and Social Services Facilities in Relation to Overweight and Obesity in Children and Adolescents.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the association of a combined measure of availability and use of facilities from the food environment and overweight (including obesity) among schoolchildren, while taking into account the physical activity and social-assistance environments. METHODS: Cross-sectional study with a probabilistic sample of schoolchildren aged 7 to 14 years living in a southern Brazilian city (n = 2026). Multilevel analyses were performed with overweight as outcome and the food environment as main exposure. Models were adjusted for the physical activity and social-assistance environments, as well as individual and other residential neighborhood characteristics. RESULTS: Greater availability of restaurants around the home was associated with higher odds of overweight (odds ratio [OR] = 1.40; 95% CI = 1.06-1.85). Stronger associations were found for schoolchildren reporting to use restaurants (OR = 1.48; 95% CI = 1.15-1.90). This association remained significant after adjusting for the presence of other food retailers. Schoolchildren who had social-assistance facilities around their homes, but reported not to use them, showed consistently higher odds of being overweight (OR = 1.34; 95% CI = 1.01-1.78) as compared to schoolchildren who had these facilities near home and used them. The physical activity environment was not associated with the outcome. CONCLUSIONS: Availability and use of the food and social-assistance environments were significantly associated with overweight (including obesity) among the schoolchildren. Future research should consider the use of environmental facilities in combination to their geographical availability. Our results highlight the need for policies that limit the access to obesogenic food outlets by children and adolescents.

Ultra-processed food consumption patterns among older adults in the Netherlands and the role of the food environment.

PURPOSE: To describe the patterns of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) consumption in the Netherlands; to test if exposure to the food environment is associated with UPFs consumption; and if this association differed across educational levels and neighbourhood urbanisation. METHODS: Cross-sectional study using 2015-data of 8104 older adults from the Dutch EPIC cohort. Proportion of UPFs consumption was calculated from a validated food-frequency questionnaire. Exposure to the food environment was defined as proximity and availability of supermarkets, fast-food restaurants, full-service restaurants, convenience stores, candy stores and cafés. Consumption of UPFs was expressed as both percentage of total grams and total kilocalories. RESULTS: The study population was aged 70(± 10 SD) years and 80.5% was female. Average UPFs consumption was 17.8% of total food intake in grams and 37% of total energy intake. Those who consumed greater amounts of UPFs had a poorer overall diet quality. Adjusted linear regression models showed that closer proximity and larger availability to any type of food retailer was associated with lower UPFs consumption (both in grams and kilocalories). Somewhat stronger significant associations were found for proximity to restaurants (ß = - 1.6%, 95% confidence interval (CI) = - 2.6; - 0.6), and supermarkets (ß = - 2.2%, 95%CI = - 3.3; - 1.1); i.e., Individuals living within 500 m from the closest supermarket, as compared to 1500 m, had 2.6% less calories from UPFs. No differences were found on analyses stratified for urbanisation and education. CONCLUSIONS: Using various measures of exposure to the food environment, we found that exposure to restaurants and supermarkets was associated with somewhat lower consumption of UPFs.

Recent changes in the Dutch foodscape: socioeconomic and urban-rural differences.

BACKGROUND: Obesogenic food environments may influence dietary behaviours and contribute to obesity. Few countries quantified changes in their foodscape. We explored how the availability of different types of food retailers has changed in the Netherlands across levels of neighbourhood socioeconomic status (SES) and urbanisation. METHODS: This longitudinal ecological study conducted in the Netherlands had as unit of analysis administrative neighbourhoods. From 2004 to 2018, the geographic location and type of each food retailer were objectively assessed by a commercial company. Food retailers were categorised as local food shops, fast food restaurants, food delivery, restaurants, supermarkets, and convenience stores. Information on neighbourhood SES and urbanisation was obtained from Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). To test the change in the counts of food retailers we used negative binomial generalized estimating equations (GEE), with neighbourhoods as the group variable, time as the independent variable and the counts of each type of food retailer as outcome. To account for changes in population density, analyses were adjusted for the number of inhabitants per neighbourhood. We tested effect modification by adding an interaction term for neighbourhood SES and urbanisation to the models. RESULTS: In Dutch neighbourhoods between 2004 and 2018, a 120 and 35% increase was found in the count of food delivery outlets and restaurants, respectively, and a 24% decrease in count of local food shops. Stratified analyses showed an increase in the availability of supermarkets and convenience stores in the more urbanised and lower SES neighbourhoods, while a decrease was observed in the less urbanised and higher SES neighbourhoods. CONCLUSIONS: We observed considerable changes in the Dutch foodscape. Over a 14 years period, the foodscape changed towards a higher availability of food retailers offering convenience and ready-to-eat foods. These findings can help policy makers aiming to promote a healthier food environment and obesity prevention.

Field Validation of Commercially Available Food Retailer Data in the Netherlands.

The aim of this study was to validate a Dutch commercial dataset containing information on the types and locations of food retailers against field audit data. Field validation of a commercial dataset ("Locatus") was conducted in February 2019. Data on the location and classification of food retailers were collected through field audits in 152 streets from four urban and four rural neighborhoods in the Netherlands. The classification of food retailers included eight types of grocery stores (e.g., supermarkets, bakeries) and four types of food outlets (e.g., cafés, take away restaurants). The commercial dataset in the studied area listed 322 food retailers, whereas the field audit counted 315 food retailers. Overall, the commercially available data showed "good" to "excellent" agreement statistics (>0.71) with field audit data for all three levels of analysis (i.e., location, classification and both combined) and across urban as well as rural areas. The commercial dataset under study provided an accurate description of the measured food environment. Therefore, policymakers and researchers should feel confident in using this commercial dataset as a source of secondary data.

Comparing Different Residential Neighborhood Definitions and the Association Between Density of Restaurants and Home Cooking Among Dutch Adults.

The definition of neighborhoods as areas of exposure to the food environment is a challenge in food environment research. We aimed to test the association of density of restaurants with home cooking using four different definitions of residential neighborhoods. We also tested effect modification by age, length of residency, education, and income. This innovative cross-sectional study was conducted in the Netherlands (N = 1245 adults). We calculated geographic information system-based measures of restaurant density using residential administrative neighborhood boundaries, 800 m and 1600 m buffers around the home and respondents' self-defined boundaries (drawn by the respondents on a map of their residential area). We used adjusted Poisson regression to test associations of restaurant density (tertiles) and the outcome "weekly consumption of home-cooked meals" (six to seven as compared to five days per week (day/week) or fewer). Most respondents reported eating home-cooked meals for at least 6 day/week (74.2%). Regardless of the neighborhood definition used, no association between food environment and home cooking was observed. No effect modification was found. Although exposure in terms of density of restaurants was different according to the four different neighborhood definitions, we found no evidence that the area under study influences the association between density of restaurants and home cooking among Dutch adults.

Parental Perceived Travel Time to and Reported Use of Food Retailers in Association with School Children's Dietary Patterns.

Considering the association between the neighborhood food environment and individual eating behaviors, this study aimed to assess the association between parents' reported use of food facilities by their children, and parental perceived travel time to food facilities, with their children's dietary patterns. Parents reported the use of supermarkets, full-service and fast-food restaurants, and perceived travel time to these food retailers. To assess school children's food consumption, a previous day dietary recall was applied. Factor analysis was conducted to identify dietary patterns. To test the association between reported use and perceived travel time to food retailers and school children's dietary patterns, we performed multilevel linear regression analyses. Parents' reported use of supermarkets was associated with children's higher score in the "Morning/Evening Meal" pattern. The use of full-service and fast-food restaurants was associated with children's higher score in the "Fast Food" pattern. Higher parental perceived travel time to full-service and fast-food restaurants was associated with children's lower score in the "Fast Food" pattern. Although the use of full-service and fast-food restaurants was associated with a less healthy dietary pattern, the perception of living further away from these food retailers may pose a barrier for the use of these facilities.

Spatial access to restaurants and grocery stores in relation to frequency of home cooking.

BACKGROUND: Little is known about the relation between the neighbourhood food environment and home cooking. We explored the independent and combined associations between residential neighbourhood spatial access to restaurants and grocery stores with home cooking in European adults. METHODS: Data of 5076 participants of the SPOTLIGHT study were collected across five European countries in 2014. Food retailers were classified into grocery stores (supermarkets and local food shops) and restaurants (full-service restaurants, fast food and take-away restaurants, café/bars). We used multinomial logistic regression models to test the associations between tertiles of spatial access to restaurants and spatial to access grocery stores and the outcome 'frequency of home cooking' categorized into 0-3; 4-5; and 6-7 days/week. Additive interaction analysis was used to test the combined association between access to grocery stores and to restaurants with home cooking. RESULTS: Mean age was 52.3 years; most participants were women (55.5%) and completed higher education (53.8%). Residents with highest access to restaurants had a reduced likelihood of home cooking 6-7 days/week (vs. 0-3 days/week) (relative risk ratio (RRR) 0.42; 95%CI = 0.23-0.76) when compared with lowest access to restaurants. No association was found for spatial access to grocery stores. Additive interaction analysis showed that individuals with medium access to grocery stores and highest access to restaurants had the lowest likelihood (RRR = 0.29, 95%CI = 0.10-0.84) of cooking 6-7 days/week when compared to individuals with lowest access to restaurants and highest access to grocery stores. CONCLUSION: Greater neighbourhood spatial access to restaurants was associated with lower frequency of home cooking, largely independent of access to grocery stores.