A Systems Approach to Understanding the Interacting Factors of the Local Food Environment for Population Health

计划摘要 当地的食物环境--或人们获取食物和饮料的地方--可能会有戏剧性的 对人群健康和健康行为的影响。然而，当地的食物环境和 人口健康充满了复杂性。例如，有证据支持食品和食品的健康行为 饮料的购买会受到环境特征的影响，比如商店里的食物供应，但 还有个人特征，如体重状况和经济资源。此外，中提供的内容 食品店可能会受到顾客购买什么、经理特征等因素的影响，比如他们的看法 客户需求，以及商店功能以外的因素，如食品分销商的可用性。这位大姐 相互作用、多层次和学科交叉的因素的安排表明，一个复杂的系统 对了解如何干预以改善人口健康和行为的影响。到目前为止， 大多数与饮食相关的人群健康和食物环境研究都有限地考虑到 这种复杂性。利用尖端的系统科学方法，如基于代理的建模，具有 有潜力捕捉这些多层次因素之间的动态，并对最突出的因素产生洞察 以干预和政策为目标的机制。因此，我正在寻求这一独立之路奖 为了获得建立独立研究计划所需的额外培训和指导 严格调查当地食物环境中这些复杂的、相互的和动态的驱动因素 人口健康。为了实现这一目标，将在奖项的指导期间进行多方面的培训计划 在以下方面获得更多技能和知识的阶段：(1)系统科学建模，(2)食品环境研究， (3)行为经济学。在奖项的独立阶段，研究的目标是：(目标1) 描述影响可获得和购买的食品和饮料的相对健康的因素 为不同的利益相关者群体所感知；(目标2)基于系统科学代理的开发、测试和验证 捕捉促成人口模式的多层次组件和动态交互的模型 在商店购买和提供的食品和饮料的健康程度；以及(目标3)调查 导致顾客购买食品和饮料以及从健康到健康的可观察模式的机制 不健康的食物供应。除了从利益相关者群体收集基础定性数据外， 拟议的研究将利用美国国立卫生研究院现有的纵向观测和调查数据集- 资助主食条例评估(STORE)研究。总之，拟议的培训和研究 活动将为我成功竞争后续R01资金做好准备，这些资金将测试干预措施和 为改善美国食品环境的健康和与饮食相关的政策建议 人口健康。

PROGRAM SUMMARY The local food environment—or where people obtain their food and beverages—may have dramatic implications for population health and health behavior. Yet, the links between the local food environment and population health are rife with complexity. For instance, evidence supports that the health behavior of food and beverage purchasing can be influenced by environmental features, such as food availability in the store, but also individual features, such as weight status and economic resources. Additionally, what is made available in food stores can be influenced by what customers purchase, manager characteristics, such as their perceptions of customer demand, and beyond store features, such as the availability of food distributors. This broad arrangement of interacting, multi-level, and discipline-crossing factors indicates a complex system with implications for understanding how to intervene to improve population health and behavior. To date, the majority of dietary-related population health and food environment research has had limited consideration for this complexity. Leveraging cutting-edge system science approaches, such as agent-based modeling, has the potential to capture the dynamics among these multi-level factors and generate insights into the most salient mechanisms to target with interventions and policies. Thus, I am seeking this Pathway to Independence Award in order to gain the additional training and mentorship required to establish an independent research program that rigorously investigates these complex, reciprocal, and dynamic drivers in the local food environment for population health. To achieve this goal, a multifaceted training plan will occur during the award's mentored phase to gain additional skills and knowledge in: (1) system science modeling, (2) food environment research, and (3) behavioral economics. The aims of the research during the award's independent phase are to: (Aim 1) describe the factors that influence the relative healthfulness of food and beverages available and purchased, as perceived by different stakeholder groups; (Aim 2) develop, test, and validate systems science agent-based models that capture the multi-level components and dynamic interactions contributing to population patterns of the healthfulness of food and beverages purchased and made available in stores; and (Aim 3) investigate the mechanisms that lead to observable patterns in customer food and beverage purchasing and healthy-to- unhealthy food availability. In addition to collecting foundational qualitative data from stakeholder groups, the proposed research will leverage an existing dataset of longitudinal observational and survey data from the NIH- funded STaple foods ORdinance Evaluation (STORE) Study. Together, the proposed training and research activities will prepare me to successfully compete for subsequent R01 funding that will test interventions and policies recommended to improve the healthfulness of the U.S. food environment and dietary-related population health.