The abstract is read at the publisher; the summary is JClub's.
A dollar-aware modified Retail Food Environment Index (mRFEI) for 878 Mississippi census tracts shows grocery decline and dollar-store growth, with index levels shifting by up to 9.1 points by 2024.
- Why it matters: Standard food-environment indices omit dollar stores, risking mismeasurement of exposure where limited-assortment retailers coexist or dominate, which can bias diet and childhood-obesity research.
- What they did: Using annual Data Axle establishment data from 1997–2024, the team computed standard and dollar-aware mRFEI variants and fit latent class trajectory models, then tested stability across seven sensitivity analyses and linked classes to SVI and urbanicity.
- The result: Six trajectory classes emerged (e.g., persistently constrained 34.8%, chronically low 19.6%), with dollar counting lowering the index by 4.5 points in 1997 and 9.1 in 2024 and enabling scoring of tracts with only dollar-store retail (rising 1 to 32).
The findingWhy it mattersWhat they didThe result
AI summary of the abstract · may contain errors · not medical advice · read the paper.