Density of outdoor advertising of consumable products in NYC by neighborhood poverty level

Background To determine if outdoor advertising density for non-alcoholic drinks, food, tobacco products, and alcohol, is associated with neighborhood poverty or other Census-level characteristics in New York City (NYC). Methods From June - July of 2015, photographs were taken of all street-level, stationary outdoor advertising (posters, stickers, decals, etc.) for consumable products in a sample of 953 NYC retail-dense street segments. Density of product images was analyzed by neighborhood poverty level and other characteristics using multivariate negative-binomial regression. Results A total of 16,305 discrete advertisements displaying 50,673 product images were photographed. Total product image prevalence relative to retail density was not significantly higher in high- vs. low-poverty neighborhoods, as hypothesized (OR: 1.31; 95% CI: 0.98, 1.77). However, total product image prevalence was higher in neighborhoods with a higher percentage of Black residents (OR: 1.08; 95% CI: 1.04, 1.12), and for sugary drinks in areas with a higher percentage of adults with <HS diploma (OR: 1.32; 95% CI: 1.11, 1.58). Conclusions Product images were abundant throughout NYC's retail-dense areas, with marginally greater prevalence by some Census-level demographics, irrespective of the content displayed.