Improvements in Neighborhood Socioeconomic Conditions May Improve Resident Diet.

Neighborhood socioeconomic conditions (NSEC) are associated with resident diet, but most research has been cross-sectional. We capitalize on a natural experiment where one neighborhood experienced substantial investments, compared to a sociodemographically similar neighborhood that did not, in order to examine pathways from neighborhood investments to changed NSEC and changed dietary behavior. We examine differences between renters and homeowners. Data are from a random sample of households (n=831) in each of these low-income Pittsburgh neighborhoods who were surveyed in 2011 and 2014. Structural equation modeling tested direct and indirect pathways from neighborhood to resident dietary quality, adjusting for individual-level sociodemographics, with multi-group testing by homeowners versus renters. Neighborhood investments were directly associated with improved dietary quality for both renters (β, 95% confidence interval [CI]) =0.27, CI: 0.05, 0.50) and homeowners (β=0.51, CI: 0.10, 0.92). Among renters, investments were also associated with dietary quality through a positive association with commercial prices (β= 0.34, CI: 0.15, 0.54) and a negative association with residential prices (β=-0.30, CI: -0.59, -0.004). Among homeowners, we did not observe any indirect pathways from investments to dietary quality through tested mediators. Investing in neighborhoods may support resident diet, doing so through improvements in neighborhood commercial environments for renters, but mechanisms appear to differ for homeowners.