Mapping the food environment: The reliability of volunteered geographical information and institutional data sources in France. Issue 1 (26th December 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Vonthron, Simon; Perrin, Coline; Soulard, Christophe‐Toussaint
• Is Part Of: Transactions in GIS. Volume 27:Issue 1(2023)
• Page Start: 134
• Page End: 151
• Publication Date: 2022-12-26
• Subjects: Geographic information systems -- Periodicals; 910.285
• DOI: 10.1111/tgis.13013
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1361-1682

Abstract

Abstract: The obesity epidemic and inequalities in access to food are prompting increasing numbers of food environment studies, which rely on secondary data sources for mapping. This article assesses the reliability of the two main food outlet data sources in France: the volunteered geographical information (VGI) collaborative map OpenStreetMap (OSM) and the national business register Sirene. Their information on food outlets was assessed through ground‐truthing in the city‐region of Montpellier. Sensitivity, positive predictive value, and concordance were computed for each database. We analyzed the socio‐spatial variability of these measures according to households' income level. The sensitivity of Sirene is good and that of OSM moderate, while the opposite holds for positive predictive value, and the concordance of both OSM and Sirene is fair. Sirene provides more reliable data on deprived neighborhoods and OSM on wealthy neighborhoods. Caution is recommended regarding the classifications on which they are based, the time required to update the institutional database, and socially influenced contributions to VGI.