Abstract
Objective
To develop a context-specific methodology to assess the 5 A's of food environment:
availability, accessibility, affordability, acceptability, and accommodation.
Design
Cross-sectional mixed-methods study. Availability of foods was assessed by on-site
observation and interviewing vendors. To assess accessibility, buffer zones around
food stores were created using geographic information systems. Affordability was controlled
by selecting participants from the middle-income group. Accommodation and acceptability
were assessed by interviewing vendors and caregivers.
Setting
Villages of Ghatkesar subdistrict (n = 4), Telangana, South India.
Participants
Caregivers of children aged 6–10 years (n = 160) and food vendors (n = 68).
Analysis
The quality of the 5 A's was graded on the basis of concurrence between actual and
perceived measures.
Results
The actual and perceived 5 A's for semiperishable foods matched, and hence the food
environment was graded as good across the villages. However, for perishable foods,
the food environment was graded as poor with respect to accommodation and acceptability
in all villages; and with respect to availability and affordability in at least 2
villages as the actual and perceived measures did not match.
Conclusions and Implications
This study demonstrated the use of context-specific methods to assess the 5 key dimensions
of the food environment, which can be attempted in other contexts with suitable modifications.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: May 25, 2022
Accepted:
February 22,
2022
Identification
Copyright
© 2022 Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
