Fruit and vegetable (FV) consumption benefits the health of populations. This can be especially the case in locations which have undergone significant changes in their food environments, such as East and Southeast Asian countries. This current systematic review is the first to study the food environments—facilitators, barriers, and moderators—associated with FV consumption in East and Southeast Asia. We consulted five electronic academic databases of English peer-reviewed papers published between 2010 and 2020 and found 31 studies. Results of these studies show that individuals strongly perceive FVs as being high-quality and safe, and having trust in their benefits. Food businesses with modernized systems have significantly fostered the consumption of FVs. A main barrier to FV consumption, however, is financial concerns, exacerbated by food businesses with FV unavailability and urbanization-induced FV price inflation and dietary patterns. Demographics and shopping patterns further hinder FV consumption. The fragmented and conditionalized findings of the 31 studies require standardized FV consumption measurements. Unlike the impact of FV consumption determinants and their interactions in Western countries, those in Asia, particularly countries other than China, have been substantially understudied. Therefore, as the research gaps in studies of food environments and FV consumption in East and Southeast Asia urgently demand scholarly attention, this paper proposes recommendations that favour the consumption of FVs.

The objectives of this study were to evaluate the effect of complex interactions among household and environmental-level factors on household-level food availability via a simulation model, the Food Accessibility Agent-based Model in Central Columbus, Ohio (FAAMC) and to test impacts of novel interventions for reducing disparities in food availability. FAAMC simulates food shopping patterns of households based on the actual location of homes and food stores, transportation network, household income, vehicle ownership, and distance to food stores. Policy interventions, which were evaluated as single or combined interventions, included: (1) reducing preference for convenience stores/partial markets; (2) increasing food availability in stores; and (3) increasing household income through a guaranteed basic income supplement program. The FAAMC estimated that mean food availability for food insecure households is 23% (95% Confidence Interval (CI): 22-24%) lower than for food secure households. Increasing household income among the poorest households may lead to a 14% (95% CI: 13-18%) increase in monthly food availability for food insecure households. Implementing multiple interventions would lead to a 41% (95% CI: 40-43%) increase in monthly food availability among food insecure households. This study exemplifies how a systems science approach may serve as an effective and efficient tool for evaluating BWhat if?^scenarios for improving household-level food security.

Food insecurity is a leading public health challenge in the United States. In Columbus, Ohio, as in many American cities, there exists a great disparity between Black and White households in relation to food insecurity. This study investigates the degree to which this gap can be attributed to differences in food shopping behavior, neighborhood perception, and socioeconomic characteristics. A Blinder–Oaxaca decomposition method is used to analyze a household survey dataset collected in 2014. We find a 34.2 percent point difference in food security between White and Black households. Variables related to food shopping behavior, neighborhood perception, and socioeconomic characteristics explain 13.8 percent, 11.6 percent, and 63.1 percent of the difference, respectively. These independent variables combined can explain 68.2 percent of the food security gap between White and Black households. Most of this is attributable to socioeconomic variables. Sense of friendship in neighborhood, use of private vehicles, and satisfaction of neighborhood food environment also partially contribute to the food security gap.

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Recent advances in computing resources have increased interest in systems modeling and population health. While group model building (GMB) has been effectively applied in developing system dynamics models (SD), few studies have used GMB for developing an agent-based model (ABM). This article explores the use of a GMB approach to develop an ABM focused on food insecurity. In our GMB workshops, we modified a set of the standard GMB scripts to develop and validate an ABM in collaboration with local experts and stakeholders. Based on this experience, we learned that GMB is a useful collaborative modeling platform for modelers and community experts to address local population health issues. We also provide suggestions for increasing the use of the GMB approach to develop rigorous, useful, and validated ABMs.