A New Tool to Rethink Food Environments for Better Health Outcomes

As food systems transformation gathers pace globally, one question remains central: How do we measure people’s food environments that shape their food choices and health? In a newly published paper, we introduce the Nutrition-Sensitive Food Environment Index (N-FEI); a new, data-driven tool designed to assess food environments by linking food diversity, accessibility, infrastructure, and ultimately malnutrition risk.

We used data from over 17,000 food vendors across six countries: Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda and Vietnam. The analysis combined machine learning, spatial analysis and rigorous statistical testing, to project malnutrition risks associated with the built food environment – measured with the N-FEI. The results show that the N-FEI offers a powerful lens for researchers, governments, and development practitioners to assess, compare, and improve food environments across diverse settings.