Association Between Various Metrics of the Rural Food Environment and Diabetes and Obesity

PEER REVIEWED

Five bar charts (A-E) map the fast food environment in rural Sullivan County, New York, In 2021 with trend lines tracking the distribution of each dataset. Chart A (Distance to Nearest): Vertically measures percentage of households; horizontally measures miles. It shows a right-skewed distribution, where few households are within 2 miles of a restaurant. Chart B (Density by Radius): Vertically measures percentage of households; horizontally measures radius. It shows that at small radii (1 mile), nearly 100% of households have zero restaurants nearby, with availability only rising slightly at wider radii. Chart C (Density per Square Mile): Vertically measures percentage of areas/households; horizontally measures density. It is heavily skewed toward zero, showing that almost the entire county has a sparse restaurant density per square mile. Chart D (Fixed Distance Bands): Vertically measures percentage of restaurants; horizontally measures distance bands. It shows that very few fast food restaurants are located in close-range bands, with most concentrated in wider zones. Chart E (Nearest Neighbors): Vertically measures percentage of restaurants; horizontally measures k-nearest neighbors. It reveals localized clustering, showing that a high percentage of fast food restaurants are located very close to other fast food restaurants.

Figure 1. Histograms for various approaches to measuring the rural food environment for fast food restaurants in Sullivan County, New York, 2021. A) Percentage of households according to absolute number of miles to nearest fast food restaurant. B) Percentage of households according to density of fast food restaurants, by radius. C) Percentage of households according to density of fast food restaurants per square mile. D) Percentage of fast food restaurants within fixed distance band. E) Percentage of fast food restaurants with nearest neighbors. The green line indicates trend.

Return to Article

Five sets of geographic dot-density maps (A–E) illustrate the fast food environment in rural Sullivan County, New York. Each map uses a gradient from light shading to dark shading indicating low density/long distance and high density/short distance, respectively. Map A (Distance to Nearest): Plots miles to the closest restaurant. Darker, high-proximity points heavily cluster in the central, eastern, and southeastern pockets, while northern and western regions feature sparse, lighter-shaded points indicating long travel distances. Map B (Density per Household): Four maps tracking expanding radii (1, 5, 10, and 20 miles). Darker, high-density points are initially confined to tight central pockets at a 1-mile before expanding into broader regional clusters. Map C (Density per Square Mile): Four maps tracking density across expanding radii. The dark, high-concentration points emphasize a sharp contrast between a few dense commercial hubs and a vast, sparse rural landscape. Map D (Proportion by Distance Bands): Four maps showing the percentage of restaurants within 1, 5, 10, and 20 miles. The shifting gradients demonstrate that very few restaurants sit within immediate 1-mile proximity, with the vast majority captured in wider regional bands. Map E (Proportion by Nearest Neighbors): Four maps analyzing k-nearest neighbors (5, 10, 20, and 30 neighbors). Darker shading highlights significant localized clustering, showing that fast food restaurants are tightly grouped near one another.

Figure 2. Maps for various approaches to measuring the rural food environment for fast food restaurants, Sullivan County, New York, 2021. A) Absolute number of miles to nearest fast food restaurant. B) Density of fast food restaurants per household. C) Density of fast food restaurants per square mile. D) Proportion of fast food restaurants within fixed distance band. E) Proportion of fast food restaurants with nearest neighbors.

Return to Article

Top