Choosing Healthy Food in Sydney's Inner City Neighborhoods

Diet-related chronic diseases are a major health problem faced by developed and developing countries. Although individuals’ dietary patterns are often associated with varied psychological and socioeconomic factors, built environment factors can be important determinants of food choices. Whilst there is some evidence to suggest a link between access to food and food consumption, it remains unclear how a wider range of built environment factors influence residents’ food choices. A deeper understanding of these relationships could reveal under-researched aspects of a healthy built environment. This paper explores how residents in inner Sydney neighborhoods access food and investigates how characteristics of the built environment influence their food choices. Eighteen participants, representing a range of ethnic backgrounds and levels of income, were selected for in-depth interviews. Several urban barriers to healthy food consumption were identified through analysis. Distance, land use and urban form, in particular, shape the food choices of individuals in different ways. These findings have implications for urban planning and policy making for healthy cities.