Are food choices influenced by the food environment? In other words, does the availability of grocery stores play a positive role in shaping daily diets? Do fast food restaurants discourage healthy eating? CURA research assistant Dr. Xiang Chen and his department colleague Xining Yang took an innovative approach to answering this question. 

Focusing on the study area of Columbus, Ohio, raw tweets over the span of five weekdays were streamed directly from Twitter. These tweets were further narrowed by focusing on food activities, such as shopping in quality grocery stores and dinning at fast food restaurants in the region. These food-themed tweets were analyzed to determine if there was a significant association between their surrounding food environment and the quality of their particular food choices. The result was surprisingly interesting: there was a significant correlation between healthy food choices and the number of grocery stores around them, while the correlation for fast food restaurants was not significant. This observation offered corroborating evidence that the presence of grocery stores has a “marked effect” on improving the quality of diets for nearby residents.

This is the first time Twitter has been used for studying food activities. This study has great potential for informing health scientists about the importance of using social media to measure individual behavior and for informing community advocates and stakeholders of the significant role quality food retailers can play in changing the dietary practices of area residents.

Read more from their recent publication in Applied Geography: Employing Twitter for Food Study