Abstract
To effectively prevent and reduce childhood obesity through healthy community design,
it is essential to understand which neighborhood environment features influence weight
gain in various age groups. However, most neighborhood environment research is cross-sectional,
focuses on adults, and is often carried out in small, nongeneralizable geographic
areas. Thus, there is a great need for longitudinal neighborhood environment research
in diverse populations across the life cycle. This paper describes (1) insights and
challenges of longitudinal neighborhood environment research and (2) advancements
and remaining gaps in measurement and study design that examine individuals and neighborhoods
within the context of the broader community. Literature-based research and findings
from the Obesity and Neighborhood Environment Database (ONEdata), a unique longitudinal
GIS that is spatially and temporally linked to data in the National Longitudinal Study
of Adolescent Health (N=20,745), provide examples of current limitations in this area
of research. Findings suggest a need for longitudinal methodologic advancements to
better control for dynamic sources of bias, investigate and capture appropriate temporal
frameworks, and address complex residential location processes within families. Development
of improved neighborhood environment measures that capture relevant geographic areas
within complex communities and investigation of differences across urbanicity and
sociodemographic composition are needed. Further longitudinal research is needed to
identify, refine, and evaluate national and local policies to most effectively reduce
childhood obesity.
To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
Purchase one-time access:
Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online accessOne-time access price info
- For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
- For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'
Subscribe:
Subscribe to American Journal of Preventive MedicineAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
References
- Let's Move.
- New York City industrial development agency approves incentives for first two supermarkets under the fresh program.
- Zoning for health?.Health Aff (Millwood). 2009; 28: w1088-w1097
- Five-year obesity incidence in the transition period between adolescence and adulthood: the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health.Am J Clin Nutr. 2004; 80: 569-575
- Physical activity from childhood to adulthood: a 21-year tracking study.Am J Prev Med. 2005; 28: 267-273
- Change in the level of physical activity from adolescence into adulthood and obesity at the age of 31 years.Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 2004; 28: 775-782
- Predictors and tracking of body mass index from adolescence into adulthood: follow-up of 18 to 20 years in the Oslo Youth Study.Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2003; 157: 1212-1218
- Built environment correlates of walking: a review.Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2008; 40: S550-S566
- Potential environmental determinants of physical activity in adults: a systematic review.Obes Rev. 2007; 8: 425-440
- Neighborhood environments: disparities in access to healthy foods in the U.S..Am J Prev Med. 2009; 36: 74-81
- The built environment and physical activity levels: the Harvard Alumni Health Study.Am J Prev Med. 2009; 37: 293-298
- Fat city: questioning the relationship between urban sprawl and obesity.J Urban Econ. 2008; 63: 385-404
- Proximity to food establishments and body mass index in the Framingham Heart Study offspring cohort over 30 years.Am J Epidemiol. 2011; 174: 1108-1114
- The neighborhood food environment and adult weight status: estimates from longitudinal data.Am J Public Health. Jan 2011; 101: 71-78
- Prospective study of urban form and physical activity in the Black Women's Health Study.Am J Epidemiol. 2009; 170: 1105-1117
- Fast food restaurants and food stores: longitudinal associations with diet in young to middle-aged adults: the CARDIA Study.Arch Intern Med. 2011; 171: 1162-1170
- Residential self-selection bias in the estimation of built environment effects on physical activity between adolescence and young adulthood.Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2010; 7: 70
- A spatial economic analysis of urban land use and obesity.J Region Sci. 2005; 45: 473-492
- Neighborhood selection and the social reproduction of concentrated racial inequality.Demography. 2008; 45: 1-29
- Environment and physical activity dynamics: the role of residential self-selection.Psychol Sport Exerc. 2011; 12: 54-60
- An agent-based model of income inequalities in diet in the context of residential segregation.Am J Prev Med. 2011; 40: 303-311
- A comprehensive analysis of built environment characteristics on household residential choice and auto ownership levels.Transp Res Pt B Method. 2007; 41: 506-526
- Examining the impacts of residential selection on travel behavior: a focus on methodologies.Trans Res Pt B. 2008; 42: 204-228
- IBISWorld Industry Report 72221: Fast food restaurants in the U.S..2010
- The (mis)estimation of neighborhood effects: causal inference for a practicable social epidemiology.Soc Sci Med. 2004; 58: 1929-1952
- Protecting adolescents from harm.JAMA. 1997; 278: 823-832
- ONEdata—Obesity & Neighborhood Environment database.
- Built and socioeconomic environments: patterning and associations with physical activity in U.S. adolescents.Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2010; 7: 45
- The influence of neighborhood food stores on change in young girls' body mass index.Am J Prev Med. 2011; 41: 43-51
- Neighborhood socioeconomic status predictors of physical activity through young to middle adulthood: the CARDIA study.Soc Sci Med. 2011; 72: 641-649
- Estimation and inference in econometrics.Oxford University Press, New York1993
- Residential relocation and changes in urban travel.J Am Plan Assoc. 2003; 69: 265-281
- How might the built environment influence obesity?.Obesity (Silver Spring). 2010; 18: S129
- Geographical mobility over the life course: motivations and implications.Population Space Place. 2008; 14: 283-303
- Instruments for causal inference: an epidemiologist's dream?.Epidemiology. 2006; 17: 360-372
- Natural experiments and instrumental variable analysis in social epidemiology.in: Oakes J.M. Kaufman J.S. Methods in social epidemiology. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco2006
- Sensitive periods and first difference models: integrating etiologic thinking into econometric techniques: a commentary on Clarkwest's “Neo-materialist theory and the temporal relationship between income inequality and longevity change.”.Soc Sci Med. 2008; 66 (discussion 1903–8): 1895-1902
- Parental involvement in interventions to improve child dietary intake: a systematic review.Prev Med. 2010; 51: 103-111
- Parental influences on youth television viewing.J Pediatr. 2007; 151 (373.e1–373.e4): 369-373
- Engaging parents to increase youth physical activity: a systematic review.Am J Prev Med. 2009; 37: 141-149
- Longitudinal physical activity and sedentary behavior trends: adolescence to adulthood.Am J Prev Med. 2004; 27: 277-283
- Adolescent physical activity and sedentary behavior: patterning and long-term maintenance.Am J Prev Med. 2005; 28: 259-266
- How much does income matter in neighborhood choice?.Population Res Policy Rev. 2007; 26: 145-161
- Contribution of neighbourhood socioeconomic status and physical activity resources to physical activity among women.J Epidemiol Community Health. 2007; 61: 882-890
- Neighborhood risk factors for obesity.Obesity (Silver Spring). 2007; 15: 2111-2119
- Interactive effects of reward sensitivity and residential fast-food restaurant exposure on fast-food consumption.Am J Clin Nutr. 2010; 91: 771-776
- Physical activity and neighborhood resources in high school girls.Am J Prev Med. 2008; 34: 413-419
- Neighborhood and weight-related health behaviors in the Look AHEAD (Action for Health in Diabetes) study.BMC Public Health. 2010; 10: 312
- Neighbourhood fruit and vegetable availability and consumption: the role of small food stores in an urban environment.Public Health Nutr. 2008; 11: 413-420
- Distance to food stores & adolescent male fruit and vegetable consumption: mediation effects.Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2007; 4: 35
- Proximity of supermarkets is positively associated with diet quality index for pregnancy.Prev Med. 2004; 39: 869-875
- Do “food deserts” influence fruit and vegetable consumption?.Appetite. 2005; 45: 195-197
- Fast food purchasing and access to fast food restaurants: a multilevel analysis of VicLANES.Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2009; 6: 28
- Neighborhood retail food environment and fruit and vegetable intake in a multiethnic urban population.Am J Health Promot. 2009; 23: 255-264
- Personal, social and environmental determinants of educational inequalities in walking: a multilevel study.J Epidemiol Commun Health. 2007; 61: 108-114
- Linking objectively measured physical activity with objectively measured urban form: findings from SMARTRAQ.Am J Prev Med. 2005; 28: 117-125
- Design and destinations: factors influencing walking and total physical activity.Urban Stud. 2008; 45: 1973-1996
- The urban built environment and obesity in New York City: a multilevel analysis.Am J Health Promot. 2007; 21: 326-334
- Neighborhood fast food restaurants and fast food consumption: a national study.BMC Public Health. 2011; 11: 543
- Alcohol and environmental justice: the density of liquor stores and bars in urban neighborhoods in the U.S..J Stud Alcohol Drugs. 2007; 68: 48-55
- Investigating neighborhood and area effects on health.Am J Public Health. 2001; 91: 1783-1789
- Assessing “neighborhood effects”: social processes and new directions for research.Annu Rev Sociol. 2002; 28: 443-478
- Levels of analysis for the study of environmental health disparities.Environ Res. 2006; 102: 172-180
- Small area inequalities in health: are we underestimating them?.Soc Sci Med. 2008; 67: 891-899
- Metrics of urban form and the modifiable areal unit problem.in: Transportation Research Board Natl Research Council, Washington DC2005: 71-79
- Association of the built environment with physical activity and obesity in older persons.Am J Public Health. 2007; 97: 486-492
- Availability of recreational resources and physical activity in adults.Am J Public Health. 2007; 97: 493-499
- Evaluating options for measurement of neighborhood socioeconomic context: evidence from a myocardial infarction case-control study.Health Place. 2008; 14: 453-467
- Parks and physical activity: why are some parks used more than others?.Prev Med. 2010; 50: S9-S12
- Objective measures of neighborhood environment and physical activity in older women.Am J Prev Med. 2005; 28: 461-469
- What neighborhood area captures built environment features related to adolescent physical activity?.Health Place. 2010; 16: 1280-1286
- Body mass index, neighborhood fast food and restaurant concentration, and car ownership.J Urban Health. 2009; 86: 683-695
- Geographic life environments and coronary heart disease: a literature review, theoretical contributions, methodological updates, and a research agenda.Annu Rev Public Health. 2009; 30 (29): 81-105
Richardson AS, Boone-Heinonen J, Popkin BM, Gordon-Larsen P. Are neighborhood food resources distributed inequitably by income and race in the United States? Epidemiologic findings across the urban spectrum. BMJ Open 2012. In press.
- Deprivation amplification revisited; or, is it always true that poorer places have poorer access to resources for healthy diets and physical activity?.Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2007; 4: 32
- Inequality in the built environment underlies key health disparities in physical activity and obesity.Pediatrics. 2006; 117: 417-424
- Fast food, race/ethnicity, and income: a geographic analysis.Am J Prev Med. 2004; 27: 211-217
- Disparities in the availability of fruits and vegetables between racially segregated urban neighbourhoods.Public Health Nutr. 2007; 10: 1481-1489
- Neighborhood characteristics associated with the location of food stores and food service places.Am J Prev Med. 2002; 22: 23-29
- Socioeconomic and food-related physical characteristics of the neighbourhood environment are associated with body mass index.J Epidemiol Community Health. 2007; 61: 491-498
- U.S. secondary schools and food outlets.Health Place. 2008; 14: 336-346
- Neighborhood racial composition, neighborhood poverty, and the spatial accessibility of supermarkets in metropolitan Detroit.Am J Public Health. 2005; 95: 660-667
- Understanding physical activity environmental correlates: increased specificity for ecological models.Exerc Sport Sci Rev. 2005; 33: 175-181
- Association of insulin resistance with distance to wealthy areas: the multi-ethnic study of atherosclerosis.Am J Epidemiol. 2007; 165: 389-397
- Understanding and representing “place” in health research: a relational approach.Soc Sci Med. 2007; 65: 1825-1838
- Urbanization, urbanicity, and health.J Urban Health. 2002; 79: S1-S12
- Food access and perceptions of the community and household food environment as correlates of fruit and vegetable intake among rural seniors.BMC Geriatr. 2010; 10: 32
- Neighborhood deprivation, vehicle ownership, and potential spatial access to a variety of fruits and vegetables in a large rural area in Texas.Int J Health Geogr. 2010; 9: 26
- Reexamining contemporary urbanism in the United States: convenient mix of the old and new.Environ Plann. 2010; 42: 2897-2913
- Rethinking local affordable housing strategies: lessons from 70 years of policy and practice.
- New recreational facilities for the young and the old in Los Angeles: policy and programming implications.J Public Health Policy. 2009; 30: S248-S263
- Interventions to promote physical activity among young and adolescent girls: a systematic review.Health Educ Res. 2011; 26: 1025-1049
- Large scale food retailing as an intervention for diet and health: quasi-experimental evaluation of a natural experiment.J Epidemiol Community Health. 2005; 59: 1035-1040
- Food price and diet and health outcomes: 20 years of the CARDIA Study.Arch Intern Med. 2010; 170: 420-426
- Assessing cost-effectiveness in obesity (ACE-obesity): an overview of the ACE approach, economic methods and cost results.BMC Public Health. 2009; 9: 419
- Can we achieve evidence-based policy and practice on active travel?.J Public Health Policy. 2009; 30: S21-S25
- Work group II: using Geographic Information Systems for enhancing research relevant to policy on diet, physical activity, and weight.Am J Prev Med. 2009; 36: S171-S176
- Validation of a GIS facilities database: quantification and implications of error.Ann Epidemiol. 2008; 18: 371-377
- Field validation of listings of food stores and commercial physical activity establishments from secondary data.Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2008; 5: 58
- Are secondary data sources on the neighbourhood food environment accurate?.Prev Med. 2009; 49: 527-528
- Concordance of commercial data sources for neighborhood-effects studies.J Urban Health. 2010; 87: 713-725
- Validation of 3 food outlet databases: completeness and geospatial accuracy in rural and urban food environments.Am J Epidemiol. 2010; 172: 1324-1333
- Public directory data sources do not accurately characterize the food environment in two predominantly rural States.J Am Diet Assoc. 2011; 111: 577-582
Article info
Identification
Copyright
© 2012 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
