Further, there was not a connection found between proximity of "non-fast food" restaurants and BMI but was associated with frequency of eating at those restaurants (Jeffery et al. 5). My question is: If there is no connection found between proximity and BMI but there is a connection between proximity and frequency of consumption, what information is needed to complete these connections?.
First-hand experience has taken me to food deserts where I have observed higher levels obesity. I spent over four months in New Orleans and traveling the surrounding area, residing in Chalmette and working for Green Light New Orleans and the St. Bernard Project. Through this work I was able to meet many of the residents considered to live in food deserts, and the majority would be considered overweight. This is not a surprise considering that in 2012, Louisiana had the highest percent of adults that were overweight or obese at 69.6% ("Percent"). What was a surprise was the extremely low access to healthy foods. At every gas station or road-side convenience store there was candy and a display of hot, fried foods, but a supermarket was a rare sight. Louisiana has a culture that celebrates not unhealthy food, but food that happens to be unhealthy: po'boys, gumbo, jambalaya and almost anything fried to name a few.
I myself grew up in Wisconsin where the percentage of overweight or obese adults was 66.4% in 2012 ("Percent"). It is also not surprising that BMI is so high here, as things like cheese and beer were celebrated ingredients. This culture, similar to Louisiana, highly reveres unhealthy dishes like the bratwurst or deep fried cheese curds; something I haven't seen since I left the state. It was easy, though to observe the contrasts between urban and rural food deserts. In areas where the population is more concentrated, it is not unusual to drive a mile or more to the grocery store, and rural inhabitants would typically have to drive more than 10 miles.
