Food deserts are commonly defined as the socioeconomically disadvantaged areas lacking of or with restricted access to healthy foods. Understanding food deserts and their association with public health from the lens of social justice is of great theoretical and practical significance for healthy city planning and design. After summarizing the food desertconceptualizations, this paper proposes a conceptual framework for understanding food deserts and then reviews the relevant literaturefrom three aspects: healthy food accessibility, socioeconomic inequalities in healthy foods provision, and health consequences of food deserts. Results show that (1) cross-regional comparative analysis is helpful for understanding food deserts with different socioeconomic contexts; (2) an interdisciplinary approach is essential for understanding food deserts; and (3) a quantitative method of related policyperformance is critical for addressing food deserts.

food deserts  /  food environment  /  public health  /  healthy city