Food swamp

[1] The term was first coined by researchers conducting longitudinal studies of the link between increased access to grocery stores and rising obesity rates.

[4] One of the factors that may better explain this phenomenon is the surrounding neighborhood of a food swamp; researchers found that a large portion of the community do not use public transportation as their primary commute.

[4] Food swamps have positive, statistically significant effects on adult obesity rates, especially in areas where a majority of residents do not have access to personal or public transportation, and have disproportionate health impact on low-income minorities.

[4] Some data also suggests that young adults living in close proximity to fast-food restaurants demonstrated higher incidence of type 2 diabetes.

[4] This suggests that racial-ethnic low-income minorities are more likely to experience the detrimental health effects of food swamps, which is supported by the fact that African Americans and Latinos have higher obesity rates than whites.

A man stands in front of a fast food cart in Toronto at night. The sign on the cart says Toronto in blue, pink, and purple neon lighting.
Food swamps are often determined by a disproportionate ratio of fast food to supermarkets.