A detour for snacks and beverages? A cross-sectional assessment of selective daily mobility bias in food outlet exposure along the commuting route and dietary intakes

• Published in: Health & place Vol. 83; p. 103088
• Main Authors: Wei, Lai, Mackenbach, Joreintje D., Poelman, Maartje P., Vermeulen, Roel, Helbich, Marco
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01-09-2023
• Subjects: Dietary behavior; Food environment; GPS; Selective daily mobility bias; SDMB; GIS; Dietary behavior; GPS; Selective daily mobility bias; Food environment
• ISSN: 1353-8292; 1873-2054
• DOI: 10.1016/j.healthplace.2023.103088

The evidence of selective daily mobility bias distorting exposure-health associations is limited. Using 7-day smartphone-based global positioning system (GPS) tracking data for 67 Dutch adults aged 25–45, we conducted paired Wilcoxon tests to compare the absolute and relative exposure to food outlets along actual and modelled commuting routes. We fitted Tobit regressions to examine their associations with three daily snack and soft drink intake outcomes. We found significant differences in absolute food outlet exposure between two types of routes. Adjusted regression analyses yielded unexpected associations between dietary intakes and food outlet exposures. Our results suggested no evidence of a selective daily mobility bias in the association between the food environment along commuting routes and adults’ snacks and soft drink consumption in this sample.
•Shortest commuting paths had more food outlets than observed commuting routes.•Relative food outlet exposures were similar on both routes.•Negative associations between relative exposure and soft drink intake were unexpected.•People might not detour for purchasing snacks and soft drinks.