Revisiting the modified Retail Food Environment Index (mRFEI): examining food access inequities over a decade in the United States
Abstract The modified Retail Food Environment Index (mRFEI) measures the percentage of healthy food retailers across U.S. census tracts. While widely used to assess food access disparities, mRFEI has not been updated since 2011, leaving a gap in capturing shifts in the food landscape. In this paper,...
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2025-06-01
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12982-025-00704-5 |
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| author | Weixuan Lyu Xiang Chen Congcong Miao Qinyun Lin Xukun Xiang Gaofei Zhang Ran Xu |
| author_facet | Weixuan Lyu Xiang Chen Congcong Miao Qinyun Lin Xukun Xiang Gaofei Zhang Ran Xu |
| author_sort | Weixuan Lyu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The modified Retail Food Environment Index (mRFEI) measures the percentage of healthy food retailers across U.S. census tracts. While widely used to assess food access disparities, mRFEI has not been updated since 2011, leaving a gap in capturing shifts in the food landscape. In this paper, we recalculate the mRFEI using the 2018–2019 Infogroup dataset and develop a web Geographic Information System tool to visualize its spatial pattern. Using the recalculated mRFEI, we evaluate the evolution of food access inequities by examining the relationships between the mRFEI and each theme of the community’s social vulnerability index (SVI) over a decade, adjusted for urbanicity. Our findings reveal that similarly to 2011, higher social vulnerability remains associated with lower access to healthy food retailers, particularly for socioeconomic status (b = − 0.246, 95% CI [− 0.287, − 0.206]), while minority status and language was no longer a significant predictor. However, these associations have weakened over time. The mRFEI gap between the most (bottom 10%) and the least (top 10%) vulnerable tracts (based on overall SVI) decreases by 2.176 (95% CI [1.638, 2.714]) over time. Similar reductions are observed for other SVI themes and when comparing the top and the bottom 25%, suggesting a narrowing food inequities. However, food acess gaps by urbanicity persist. Urban and suburban tracts consistently exhibit lower mRFEI than rural tracts, with the urban–rural gap widening over time. These diminishing yet persisting inequities highlight the need for continued policy efforts to narrow the food access gap. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-ff6ea793ca994f6ea174c87d9cd6f357 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 3005-0774 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | Springer |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Discover Public Health |
| spelling | doaj-art-ff6ea793ca994f6ea174c87d9cd6f3572025-08-20T03:10:38ZengSpringerDiscover Public Health3005-07742025-06-0122111010.1186/s12982-025-00704-5Revisiting the modified Retail Food Environment Index (mRFEI): examining food access inequities over a decade in the United StatesWeixuan Lyu0Xiang Chen1Congcong Miao2Qinyun Lin3Xukun Xiang4Gaofei Zhang5Ran Xu6Department of Geography, Sustainability, Community and Urban Studies, University of ConnecticutDepartment of Geography, Sustainability, Community and Urban Studies, University of ConnecticutDepartment of Geography, Sustainability, Community and Urban Studies, University of ConnecticutSchool of Public Health and Community Medicine, Institute of Medicine, University of GothenburgUniversity of ChicagoDepartment of Allied Health Sciences, College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources, University of ConnecticutDepartment of Allied Health Sciences, College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources, University of ConnecticutAbstract The modified Retail Food Environment Index (mRFEI) measures the percentage of healthy food retailers across U.S. census tracts. While widely used to assess food access disparities, mRFEI has not been updated since 2011, leaving a gap in capturing shifts in the food landscape. In this paper, we recalculate the mRFEI using the 2018–2019 Infogroup dataset and develop a web Geographic Information System tool to visualize its spatial pattern. Using the recalculated mRFEI, we evaluate the evolution of food access inequities by examining the relationships between the mRFEI and each theme of the community’s social vulnerability index (SVI) over a decade, adjusted for urbanicity. Our findings reveal that similarly to 2011, higher social vulnerability remains associated with lower access to healthy food retailers, particularly for socioeconomic status (b = − 0.246, 95% CI [− 0.287, − 0.206]), while minority status and language was no longer a significant predictor. However, these associations have weakened over time. The mRFEI gap between the most (bottom 10%) and the least (top 10%) vulnerable tracts (based on overall SVI) decreases by 2.176 (95% CI [1.638, 2.714]) over time. Similar reductions are observed for other SVI themes and when comparing the top and the bottom 25%, suggesting a narrowing food inequities. However, food acess gaps by urbanicity persist. Urban and suburban tracts consistently exhibit lower mRFEI than rural tracts, with the urban–rural gap widening over time. These diminishing yet persisting inequities highlight the need for continued policy efforts to narrow the food access gap.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12982-025-00704-5mRFEIFood environmentSocial vulnerabilityUrbanicityFood accessInequities |
| spellingShingle | Weixuan Lyu Xiang Chen Congcong Miao Qinyun Lin Xukun Xiang Gaofei Zhang Ran Xu Revisiting the modified Retail Food Environment Index (mRFEI): examining food access inequities over a decade in the United States Discover Public Health mRFEI Food environment Social vulnerability Urbanicity Food access Inequities |
| title | Revisiting the modified Retail Food Environment Index (mRFEI): examining food access inequities over a decade in the United States |
| title_full | Revisiting the modified Retail Food Environment Index (mRFEI): examining food access inequities over a decade in the United States |
| title_fullStr | Revisiting the modified Retail Food Environment Index (mRFEI): examining food access inequities over a decade in the United States |
| title_full_unstemmed | Revisiting the modified Retail Food Environment Index (mRFEI): examining food access inequities over a decade in the United States |
| title_short | Revisiting the modified Retail Food Environment Index (mRFEI): examining food access inequities over a decade in the United States |
| title_sort | revisiting the modified retail food environment index mrfei examining food access inequities over a decade in the united states |
| topic | mRFEI Food environment Social vulnerability Urbanicity Food access Inequities |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12982-025-00704-5 |
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