People Travel Long Distances for Food
GPS data reveals that people are traveling far from their homes to purchase food in the United States, challenging ideas about food access and its relation to unhealthy eating habits.
The Study and Findings
A study on 94 million grocery store visits indicates that most people are bypassing their neighborhood boundaries to buy food, as noted in a report by Xu et al. in Nature Communications (R. Xu et al. Nature Commun. 14, 7326; 2023). Researchers found that people travel an average distance of 5.95 kilometers each time they buy food.
Impact of the Study
This study suggests that access to healthy food is not limited to local areas, and people are willing to travel long distances to obtain the food they prefer. This challenge to prevailing ideas about unhealthy eating habits may be significant in developing new strategies to improve access to healthy food and reduce cardiovascular diseases and metabolic disorders in the United States.
Authors’ Recommendations
The researchers recommend that public policies should consider this behavioral pattern of people regarding food purchasing, and strategies should be developed to improve access to healthy food in areas where people face a shortage of healthy food options.
Future Challenges
It is important that future studies continue to understand the factors influencing people’s decisions about food purchasing and travel to obtain it. Such studies may help develop policies and programs that promote access to healthy food and improve individuals’ eating habits.
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