This project aims to explore the impact of the built environment on nutrition assistance program participation through the examination of the influence of community characteristics and physical access to SNAP-authorized retailers on participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) using innovative geospatial analysis techniques that take into account natural and built features of the physical environment.
Much of the current study of the challenges in health, nutrition, and food security faced by rural populations addresses rurality as a monolithic identifier, failing to consider the significant differences in needs and barriers between rural communities. This project aims to explore intra-rural variation in participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and nutrition and health outcomes through the use of dasymetric mapping and rural typologies developed through multivariate statistical analysis. Through the analysis of community sociodemographic factors and patterns of SNAP participation, paired with the physical aspects of the built environment, this study will identify community-level correlates of SNAP participation and associated health and nutrition outcomes in rural regions.
Dasymetric mapping will be used to generate micro-level data surfaces for SNAP retailer access, SNAP participation, community characteristics captured by the American Community Survey, and health and nutrition outcome indicators drawn from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). Analysis of these data surfaces will examine the impact of community-level socio-demographic characteristics and the built environment, namely physical access, on SNAP participation, and how these factors, when combined with SNAP participation, mediate health outcomes. The results of this study will help identify types of rural communities that under-utilize SNAP and will help policy-makers better target outreach programs to ensure that benefits reach those rural communities with the greatest need.
Principal Investigator and Collaborators:
Michele Walsh, PhD (PI)
The Frances McClelland Institute for Children, Youth, and Families
The University of Arizona
John Daws, PhD
The Frances McClelland Institute for Children, Youth, and Families
The University of Arizona
Kara Haberstock Tanoue
The Frances McClelland Institute for Children, Youth, and Families
The University of Arizona
.png)