Background

Access to fresh, unprocessed foods is associated with healthy living. People living in food deserts have an added barrier to purchasing such foods. Our study aimed to evaluate if living in a food desert impacted one-year excess weight loss (%EWL) after bariatric surgery.

Methods

Retrospective study of all consecutive primary bariatric surgeries at our institution from 2015 to 2019. Food deserts were defined as low income and low food access based on the USDA Economic Research Service. Independent variables studied included patient characteristics (weight, BMI, gender, age, race/ethnicity, education, marital and employment status, income level, food access, and insurance status), comorbidities (sleep apnea, diabetes, hypertension, renal disease, cancer, and DVT history, heart disease, GERD, hypercholesterolemia), and surgical procedure [Laparoscopic Gastric Bypass (LRYGB) or Sleeve Gastrectomy (LSG)].

Results

396 patients had surgery, 88.6% female, 51.3% were Black. 145 (33.6%) had LRYGB and 316 (66.4%) LSG. 22.2% lived in a food desert, 25.8% were low income alone, 29.0% had low access alone, and 23.0% were neither low access nor low income. Linear regression did not identify food desert, income level, or food access as independently associated with %EWL. Factors independently associated with inferior %EWL were LSG (p<0.001), being single (p=0.002), black race (p=0.008), sleep apnea (p=0.03), and older age (p=0.05).

Conclusions

Living in a food desert, income level or food access was not independently associated with inferior %EWL one year after bariatric surgery. It suggests that patients can overcome these additional barriers to attain appropriate weight loss with surgery.