Access to fast food restaurants, combined with a lack of access to grocery stores, is correlated with obesity and premature death.
Not rendering correctly? View this email as a web page here.
Insights2.png

What’s for dinner tonight? Are you planning to stop by your neighborhood grocery store... or the nearest McDonald’s or Burger King?

For too many Americans, the answer to this question is “fast food”. People who live in food deserts, which the USDA defines as “parts of the country vapid of fresh fruit, vegetables, and other healthful whole foods, usually found in impoverished areas," often don’t have any healthy options to choose from. An estimated 23.5 million Americans live in food deserts, which exist in both rural and urban areas.

The ratio of fast food restaurants to grocery stores in a community is closely tied to population health outcomes. Easy access to fast food, combined with a lack of access to grocery stores, is correlated with a high prevalence of obesity and premature death. The following map shows the ratio of fast food restaurants to grocery stores in Minnesota. ZIP codes with a higher ratio are represented in red; those with a lower ratio are shown in green.

Fast Food Restaurant / Grocery Store Ratio

MN Fast Food to Grocery Ratio.png

Carrot Health data for Minnesota shows that ZIP codes in the top decile of this ratio have:

  • 23% higher prevalence of hypertension
  • 14% higher prevalence of congestive heart disease
  • 14% higher prevalence of a chronic condition

These types of social, behavioral, and environmental insights are powerful predictors of future health risks and costs. Carrot MarketView™ delivers consumer health insights at the identified individual level, giving healthcare payers and providers a highly granular view of emerging risks and intervention opportunities.

To learn more about how Carrot MarketView™ goes beyond traditional clinical or claims data to improve the health of your population and help your organization succeed, schedule a demo today.

Schedule a Demo


About Carrot Health:

Carrot Health has pioneered a new way of using social and behavioral data to understand healthcare consumers. Our MarketView™ software-as-a-service platform delivers actionable business insights that drive profitable customer engagement and revenue growth for healthcare payers and providers.


You may also be interested in these recent Carrot Health publications:

The Iceberg Cometh: Welcome to Sickville, USA

IcebergSickvilleIcon.pngThe Iceberg Cometh, the first of a four-part white paper series co-authored by Carrot Health’s Kurt Waltenbaugh and 4sight Health’s David Johnson, taps powerful consumer and health data analytics to reveal the enormous crisis American healthcare is speeding toward.

Download the Whitepaper

 

Carrot Health Insights 6/4/17

Social Risk Index 20170502.png

The Carrot Health Social Risk Index uses 31 unique variables to measure the level of social risk that an individual is exposed to. People with a high Social Risk Index have significantly worse health and cost outcomes.

Read More