Table 1.
Demographic, socio-economic and geographic characteristics of primary food shoppers in the USA by food desert status, 2015
| Unweighted | Inverse probability of treatment-weighted | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total, unweighted (n 3705) |
Does not live in a food desert (n 3294) |
Lives in a food desert (n 411) |
Does not live in a food desert (n 3294) |
Lives in a food desert (n 411) |
|||
| Characteristic | Mean, sd or % | Mean, sd or % | Mean, sd or % | P | Mean, sd or % | Mean, sd or % | P |
| Age (years) | 0·91 | 0·91 | |||||
| Mean | 45·5 | 45·5 | 45·5 | 45·5 | 44·9 | ||
| sd | 15·18 | 15·16 | 15·30 | 16·15 | 45·1 | ||
| Female (%) | 57·0 | 56·5 | 61·1 | 0·08 | 57·0 | 56·5 | 0·64 |
| Race (%) | |||||||
| White | 66·7 | 67·6 | 59·8 | Ref. | 66·7 | 66·2 | Ref. |
| African American | 12·8 | 11·9 | 20·2 | <0·0001 | 12·8 | 13·1 | 0·67 |
| Hispanic | 14·6 | 14·5 | 15·3 | 0·23 | 14·5 | 14·3 | 0·88 |
| Asian | 5·3 | 5·5 | 3·7 | 0·30 | 5·3 | 5·6 | 0·60 |
| Other | 0·7 | 0·6 | 1·0 | 0·32 | 0·7 | 0·8 | 0·44 |
| Marital status (%) | |||||||
| Married or partnered | 55·1 | 55·5 | 52·1 | Ref. | 55·1 | 55·9 | Ref. |
| Divorced, separated or widowed | 16·0 | 15·8 | 17·5 | 0·25 | 16·0 | 15·7 | 0·61 |
| Single | 28·9 | 28·7 | 30·4 | 0·31 | 28·9 | 28·4 | 0·58 |
| Employment status (%) | |||||||
| Employed for wages or self-employed | 54·8 | 56·1 | 44·5 | Ref. | 54·9 | 56·4 | Ref. |
| Unemployed | 9·0 | 8·6 | 11·7 | 0·002 | 9·0 | 8·9 | 0·66 |
| Homemaker, student or retired | 36·2 | 35·3 | 43·8 | <0·0001 | 36·2 | 34·7 | 0·16 |
| Highest education (%) | |||||||
| College graduate or higher | 49·4 | 50·4 | 41·6 | Ref. | 49·4 | 47·9 | Ref. |
| Some college | 31·9 | 31·3 | 36·0 | 0·006 | 31·9 | 33·0 | 0·22 |
| High school or less | 18·7 | 18·3 | 22·4 | 0·004 | 18·7 | 19·1 | 0·44 |
| Annual household income (%) | |||||||
| ≥$US 100 000 | 19·0 | 20·2 | 9·0 | Ref. | 19·0 | 18·6 | Ref. |
| $US 75 000–99 999 | 11·9 | 12·1 | 10·0 | 0·01 | 11·8 | 10·8 | 0·42 |
| $US 50 000–74 999 | 17·2 | 17·3 | 16·1 | 0·0006 | 17·2 | 17·4 | 0·67 |
| $US 35 000–49 999 | 13·6 | 13·0 | 17·5 | <0·001 | 13·5 | 13·0 | 0·74 |
| $US 25 000–34 999 | 12·2 | 12·0 | 13·6 | <0·001 | 12·2 | 12·7 | 0·49 |
| $US 15 000–24 999 | 12·7 | 12·4 | 15·3 | <0·001 | 12·7 | 13·7 | 0·27 |
| <$US 15 000 | 13·6 | 13·0 | 18·5 | <0·001 | 13·6 | 13·7 | 0·77 |
| At least one other person in home (%) | 73·6 | 74·0 | 70·6 | 0·14 | 73·6 | 73·7 | 0·92 |
| At least one child in the home (%) | 34·8 | 34·9 | 33·6 | 0·59 | 34·8 | 36·9 | 0·06 |
| Owns a car (%) | 90·9 | 91·0 | 90·3 | 0·63 | 90·9 | 91·1 | 0·82 |
| Receives SNAP benefits (%) | 14·7 | 13·9 | 21·2 | <0·0001 | 14·7 | 16·1 | 0·11 |
| Neighbourhood type (%) | |||||||
| Urban | 28·2 | 27·6 | 33·4 | Ref. | 28·2 | 29·9 | Ref. |
| Suburban | 42·6 | 44·0 | 31·0 | <0·0001 | 42·5 | 41·5 | 0·13 |
| Small town | 15·7 | 14·9 | 21·7 | 0·21 | 15·7 | 14·8 | 0·13 |
| Rural | 13·6 | 13·5 | 13·9 | 0·32 | 13·6 | 13·8 | 0·60 |
SNAP, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program; ref., reference category.
Bivariate associations between residence in a food desert and outcomes were generated using unadjusted linear, binary logistic and multinomial logistic regression models, depending on the dependent variable type.