"Food deserts"--evidence and assumption in health policy making.

Steven Cummins

; Sally Macintyre; (2002) "Food deserts"--evidence and assumption in health policy making. BMJ (Clinical research ed), 325 (7361). pp. 436-438. ISSN 0959-8138 DOI: 10.1136/bmj.325.7361.436

Copy

Assertions can be reported so often that they are considered true ("factoids"). They may sometimes even be used to determine health policy when empirical information is lacking. Steven Cummins and Sally Macintyre use the claimed existence of "food deserts" - poor urban areas where residents cannot buy affordable, healthy food - to illustrate why policy makers need to look more critically at the facts.