Food environments and vulnerability in Monterrey, Mexico

Abstract

Food environments are a combination of spaces in which people purchase food, and the foods that are available, accessible, and affordable (EPHA, 2019). Many low-income communities in Latin America live in so-called food deserts with limited availability of food, or food swamps where the available and/or affordable food is mostly processed (Krstikj et al, in press). Little is known about spatial equity of food environments in Mexico and their impact on health, although research suggests that Mexico´s north region is most vulnerable to food access and non-communicable diseases such as obesity and hypertension (Roggema et al, 2022). This paper explores food environments in Monterrey, Mexico, and estimates the correlation between food access and health. First, we identify areas in Monterrey that are food deserts and food swamps based on density of outlets by type and accessibility estimated by GIS matrix routing. Next, we search for spatial autocorrelation of overweight and hypertension indices from the Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS). Finally, with OLS regression we verify the correlation between food access and health. We find that the most vulnerable people with low access to healthy food are the low-income communities at the urban fringe of Monterrey that also suffer from higher indices of non-communicable diseases. The lack of planning of food environments most likely contributes to negative health outcomes to already vulnerable populations, thus increasing significantly their vulnerability. Better planning of food environments is a key factor for promoting health in the most vulnerable communities.