Paez A, Mercado R. G, Farber S,

¶ … Paez a, Mercado R. G, Farber S, al. (2010), "Relative Accessibility Deprivation Indicators Urban Settings: Definitions Application Food Deserts Montreal," Urban Studies, 47(7), 1415-1438.

Paez A, Mercado R. G, Farber S, et al. (2010). Relative accessibility deprivation indicators for urban settings: Definitions and application to food deserts in Montreal. Urban Studies, 47(7), 1425 -- 1432

The main aim of the article "Relative accessibility deprivation indicators for urban settings: Definitions and application to food deserts in Montreal" is to assess the degree to which proximity to healthy food affects shopping habits and by implication a person's health and body mass. To calculate this, Paez (et al. 2010) used a spatial expansion model to determine the distance traveled for food and compared it with other relevant demographic factors, such as generation, class, number of persons in the household, relative mobility, occupation, and type of geographic location. Specific concern was given for the variables of persons in select categories such as the elderly (over the age of 65); low income persons; and single parent households.

Based on the coefficients of the equation cited in the article, researchers estimated the average distance travelled for various hypothetical individuals with selected socioeconomic and demographic profiles, such as a single person between the ages of age 36 -- 50; with an annual income less than $100, 000; without a driver's license or access to transportation within 500 meters of his home; who was not employed; not a student; and who did not have access to free parking. Profiles could thus be extremely detailed and refined in terms of how they were used to generate data.

General trends observed included the fact that access to a vehicle tended to increase the distance persons traveled to obtain food, except in city centers, and that individuals with higher income levels tended to have greater mobility, with the exception of persons living in city centers. There is an extremely tight concentration of sources of food in the city center, and far fewer sources on the city's periphery, which affects food access particularly for persons for whom transportation is a problem. (Who also tend to have low incomes). Even for persons on the periphery of the city, being able to travel long distances was not necessarily a significant advantage in obtaining food, given the scarcity of food establishments, particularly retail food establishments in these peripheral areas. The article also discusses the different access to different 'types' of food. For example, fast food was far more readily available in a wider variety of locations than retail food locations, although all were still found in greatest concentration in the center of the city.

This article suggests that far more than individual willpower, geographic location and economics will shape an individual's food choices, and likely affect his or her body weight and health. People who are wealthier and have better access to transportation will find it easier to obtain access to a wider variety of food, unless they live in city centers. Living in the center of the city may mitigate some of the negative effects of poverty and not having a car, although very often people who are poor cannot afford to live in a central, desirable location.