Date: Thu 28th February, 2008

Description: Several studies have shown that eating fruit and vegetables protects against many illnesses and diseases, and that a diet high in salt, sugar or fat can lead to obesity and associated health problems. One popular reason in explaining why diets are so bad in this country is the lack of easy access to healthy foods due to the decline in small grocery and convenience stores: creating so-called ’food deserts’.This report begins by calculating how far residents are from a decent grocery shop, and roughly how many people are affected. Data on fruit and vegetable purchases is then used to examine a link between distance and diet. The report then examines three contributory factors that contribute to ‘access’ problems: ability, assets and attitude. Ability is anything that physically prevents access, assets is the lack of financial resources and attitude includes lack of knowledge or unwillingness.

Categories: LAA Healthier & Older People, Food Deserts