It's time to think more broadly about obesity prevention initiatives. New research is suggesting it's not about access. The New York Times highlighted two new studies that say poor neighborhoods have a wider variety of food choices than do more affluent ones, and found no relationship between the type of food being sold and obesity.
In a study looking at school and residential neighborhood environment and diet, scientists did not find a clear relationship between the two variables.
I think it makes headlines to debunk a common trend. Absolutisms like "Twitter hashtags are over", "God is dead", "Pink is the new black" are all too common. The reality is more complicated.
ReplyDeleteWith a gap in researched best practices, it's super important that we're testing solutions. But we also need to build enough science literacy for the media and public to understand what research can and cannot tell us. Otherwise one piece of new research is often misinterpreted in headlines and public perception as declaring an entire literature base void. Which is pretty damaging.
It's clear that any obesity solution will require a comprehensive approach that includes access.
I hear ya, brother ! very very true. So, we have mainstream narrative and then we have the message shift (counter-narrative). That said, it is my experience working with communities that, tho access is important, it is not access we need to address - it is actual behavior (what are people eating, where are they getting it, etc) and culture.
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