Believe it or not, there are still many places in America where it is quite hard to find a grocery store around. The are dubbed as 'food deserts' by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). A recent study by Georgia Institute of Technology highlights the difference between the diet of those people living in these 'food desert' communities and the average American diet.
The study was based on more than three million geographically tagged posts on the popular social media platform Instagram. Based on the pictures of food posted (and eaten), researchers found that people living in the 'food desert' consume between 5 to 17 percent higher fat, cholesterol and sugars than those posted by Instagram users in identified non-food desert areas. This is attributed to the lack of access to fresh healthy food, drastically limiting the food choices for those in the food desert group.
According to Assistant Professor Munmun De Choudhury of Georgia Tech's School of Interactive Computing who led the study, the biggest difference lies in the fruits and vegetables consumption between the two groups. De Choudhury noted that posts from people belonging to the non-food desert group mentioned fruits and vegetables 48 percent. This compares with the significantly lower 33 percent mentioned in posts from the food desert group.
Incidentally, this latest study reinforces a 2013 study made by Indiana University which was featured in a Science Daily article. The article cites that residents in the food desert communities have much higher rates of certain diseases like diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and stroke - diseases most commonly attributed to unhealthy eating habits. Though the article states that the coverage of the study was only Marion County, Indiana the trend observed could likewise happen in other 'food desert' areas across the United States as well.
These 'food desert' places are more common that you think according to a Grist.org article by Sarah Laskow. Defined in the article, the 'food desert' classification covers two categories: people who live more than a mile from a grocery store in urban areas and people who live more than 10 miles from a grocery store in rural areas. Based on the map provided by USDA which is also posted with the article, Laskow concludes that "In a lot of places, it's a lot of people."
