Fast Food Restaurants: A Racialized Foodscape
Open AccessPublic health officials, community activists, and academic researchers have long been concerned with diet-related health disparities. Much evidence has documented that diet-related nutritional diseases burden low-income and minority groups more so than white, affluent populations. More recently, research has focused on the structural mechanisms of contemporary urban landscapes that produce uneven spaces, such as food deserts and swamps, resulting in disproportionate health outcomes. The absence of healthy and nutritious foods is linked to higher rates of obesity and diabetes in low-income and minority communities, however the relationship between an abundance of fast food restaurants and disparate health outcomes warrants further analysis to help guide solutions towards more equitable foodscapes. Data from Washington, D.C.’s Department of Health are used to map the location of all fast food restaurants in the District. This fast food landscape is evaluated against social and demographic data from census reports as well as data on health outcomes from the CDC’s 500 Cities Project. Spatial analysis results indicate that low-income and Black and Hispanic communities in Washington, D.C. experience greater rates of obesity and diabetes relative to the distribution of fast food restaurants. These findings offer additional evidence to support claims that available food access, specifically access to unhealthy foods, are linked to racial disparities in health outcomes.
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