Integrating human activity into food environments can better predict cardiometabolic diseases in the United States

Cardiometabolic diseases (CMDs) are highly prevalent in the United States, linked to obesogenic food environments. Existing food environment measures show inconsistent relationships with CMDs. This study introduces the retail food activity index (RFAI), utilizing GPS data on food retailer visits, to address the gap in understanding human interaction with food environments. The RFAI demonstrates significant associations with CMD prevalence, suggesting its potential for guiding policy and interventions to reduce the burden of CMDs, particularly in communities with obesogenic dietary behaviors.

Ran Xu, Xiao Huang, Kai Zhang, Weixuan Lyu, Debarchana Ghosh, Zhenlong Li, Xiang Chen