University of Massachusetts Amherst

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Bi-sek Hsiao presents at 2017 American Public Health Association Conference in Atlanta

 

Bi-sek Hsiao, doctoral student in the Nutrition Department and NAL member, presented her research at the American Public Health Association (APHA) Conference in Atlanta, GA. Founded in 1872, the mission of the APHA is to “improve the health of the public and achieve equity in health status.” In 2017, the APHA conference brought together more than 12,000 public health professionals in Atlanta.

Hsiao’s presentation was entitled: “Mobile produce market facilitates access to fruits and vegetables in an urban environment.” The purpose of her study was to evaluate mobile produce markets (MPM) influences on fruit and vegetable (FV) access in Springfield, MA, by assessing five dimensions of access: availability, accessibility, affordability, acceptability, and accommodation. She found that among her study sample (n=143), MPM facilitated all five dimensions of access, indicated by positive experiences with produce variety, market location, produce cost, produce freshness, market safety, and Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) benefits among older individuals (≥ 60 years).