Using geographic information systems to characterize food environments around historically black colleges and universities: Implications for nutrition interventions

Objective:To understand the distribution of healthy and unhealthy food stores near historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs).Participants and methods:Using ArcGIS Pro's network analysis tools and ReferenceUSA database, this study characterized the healthy (favorable) and unhealthy (unfavorable) retail food stores within a 5-mile radius, 15-min driving, and 15-min walking distance from each HBCU in North Carolina.Results:Most retail food stores within a 5-mile buffer radius of the 10 HBCUs in North Carolina were unfavorable. Within 15-min driving from each HBCU, 1082 stores (76.0%) were unfavorable food stores, while 332 (24.0%) were favorable. Additionally, there were four favorable and 35 unfavorable retail food stores within the 15-min walking distance of each HBCU.Conclusions:Favorable food retail stores around HBCUs in North Carolina are limited. Researchers, policy makers, and community stakeholders should work together to improve food environments surrounding HBCUs.

Automated summary

The distribution of favorable food retail stores near HBCUs in North Carolina is limited, with a majority of stores being unfavorable. Collaboration between researchers, policy makers, and community stakeholders is necessary to improve the food environments surrounding HBCUs.