Spatial Racial Segregation and Healthy Food Availability Inequities in major Brazilian cities

Resumo

Food deserts represent a critical dimension of food insecurity and health, yet their relationship with racial spatial segregation remains understudied in Global South contexts. This study examines the relationship between racial spatial segregation and the presence of food deserts across 319 Brazilian cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants. Using data from the 2022 Census, we calculated the proportion of Black residents in 231,901 census tracts and classified food retail availability based on the Locais–Nova classification of food establishments. Food deserts were defined as tracts with a density of healthy food outlets below the 25th percentile. Racial spatial segregation was assessed using Local Indicators of Spatial Association to identify local patterns of racial concentration and contrast. More than 77% of Brazilian urban census tracts were classified as food deserts, with high prevalence in the North and Northeast regions. Poisson models showed that racial spatial segregation remained significantly associated with the prevalence of food deserts after adjustment for income: High–High clusters, areas where Black populations are spatially grouped with similar neighboring tracts, had 30% (95% CI: 1.29–1.32)  higher probability to be a food desert when compared with compared to Low-Low clusters, those tracts with a predominance of White residents in predominantly White surroundings. These findings demonstrate that racial spatial segregation independently contributes to unequal access to healthy food retail, reinforcing structural disadvantages faced by Afro-Brazilian communities.