Impacts of neighborhood restaurant density on adults’ dietary quality: evidence from an IV-LASSO approach in China
The development of the restaurant industry has disrupted food consumption patterns, while evidence on how restaurants impact dietary quality remains limited and inconsistent. This study is one of the first to demonstrate a non-linear, inverted U-shaped relationship between local restaurant density a...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2025.1530812/full |
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| author | Yalin Tang Maoran Zhu Maoran Zhu Jian Zong Xuyuan Zheng Chengfang Liu |
| author_facet | Yalin Tang Maoran Zhu Maoran Zhu Jian Zong Xuyuan Zheng Chengfang Liu |
| author_sort | Yalin Tang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The development of the restaurant industry has disrupted food consumption patterns, while evidence on how restaurants impact dietary quality remains limited and inconsistent. This study is one of the first to demonstrate a non-linear, inverted U-shaped relationship between local restaurant density and dietary quality, leveraging data from four rounds of the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS). To mitigate endogeneity issues, our analyses employ a LASSO-selected Instrumental Variable (IV) approach. Our results show that before reaching the threshold, the increase in neighborhood restaurant density, primarily driven by indoor restaurants, leads to improvements in residents’ dietary quality. However, once past the threshold, higher restaurant density reduces dietary quality, mainly driven by fast food restaurants. These effects are more pronounced among males with higher-income, and those living in urban and eastern China. The mechanisms underlying these relationships include the increased frequency of eating outside home (OH), with the similar inverted U-shaped relationship observed for dietary diversity further explaining our findings. We recommend supplementing neighborhoods with limited access to dining options through indoor restaurants, and mitigating the negative effects of excessive restaurants density, especially that of fast-food restaurants. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-d6c56a7cc92344fcaa70fc85dbd3efcb |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2571-581X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems |
| spelling | doaj-art-d6c56a7cc92344fcaa70fc85dbd3efcb2025-01-23T06:56:30ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems2571-581X2025-01-01910.3389/fsufs.2025.15308121530812Impacts of neighborhood restaurant density on adults’ dietary quality: evidence from an IV-LASSO approach in ChinaYalin Tang0Maoran Zhu1Maoran Zhu2Jian Zong3Xuyuan Zheng4Chengfang Liu5College of Economics and Management, Fujian Agricultural and Forestry University, Fuzhou, ChinaChina Center for Agricultural Policy, School of Advanced Agricultural Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, ChinaMinmetals Capital Company Limited, Beijing, ChinaChina Center for Agricultural Policy, School of Advanced Agricultural Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, ChinaCollege of Economics and Management, Fujian Agricultural and Forestry University, Fuzhou, ChinaChina Center for Agricultural Policy, School of Advanced Agricultural Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, ChinaThe development of the restaurant industry has disrupted food consumption patterns, while evidence on how restaurants impact dietary quality remains limited and inconsistent. This study is one of the first to demonstrate a non-linear, inverted U-shaped relationship between local restaurant density and dietary quality, leveraging data from four rounds of the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS). To mitigate endogeneity issues, our analyses employ a LASSO-selected Instrumental Variable (IV) approach. Our results show that before reaching the threshold, the increase in neighborhood restaurant density, primarily driven by indoor restaurants, leads to improvements in residents’ dietary quality. However, once past the threshold, higher restaurant density reduces dietary quality, mainly driven by fast food restaurants. These effects are more pronounced among males with higher-income, and those living in urban and eastern China. The mechanisms underlying these relationships include the increased frequency of eating outside home (OH), with the similar inverted U-shaped relationship observed for dietary diversity further explaining our findings. We recommend supplementing neighborhoods with limited access to dining options through indoor restaurants, and mitigating the negative effects of excessive restaurants density, especially that of fast-food restaurants.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2025.1530812/fullneighborhood restaurant environmentfood desertdietary diversitydietary qualitydiet balance index |
| spellingShingle | Yalin Tang Maoran Zhu Maoran Zhu Jian Zong Xuyuan Zheng Chengfang Liu Impacts of neighborhood restaurant density on adults’ dietary quality: evidence from an IV-LASSO approach in China Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems neighborhood restaurant environment food desert dietary diversity dietary quality diet balance index |
| title | Impacts of neighborhood restaurant density on adults’ dietary quality: evidence from an IV-LASSO approach in China |
| title_full | Impacts of neighborhood restaurant density on adults’ dietary quality: evidence from an IV-LASSO approach in China |
| title_fullStr | Impacts of neighborhood restaurant density on adults’ dietary quality: evidence from an IV-LASSO approach in China |
| title_full_unstemmed | Impacts of neighborhood restaurant density on adults’ dietary quality: evidence from an IV-LASSO approach in China |
| title_short | Impacts of neighborhood restaurant density on adults’ dietary quality: evidence from an IV-LASSO approach in China |
| title_sort | impacts of neighborhood restaurant density on adults dietary quality evidence from an iv lasso approach in china |
| topic | neighborhood restaurant environment food desert dietary diversity dietary quality diet balance index |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2025.1530812/full |
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