Background
Identifying neighborhood environment attributes related to childhood obesity can inform
environmental changes for obesity prevention.
Purpose
To evaluate child and parent weight status across neighborhoods in King County (Seattle
metropolitan area) and San Diego County differing in GIS-defined physical activity
environment (PAE) and nutrition environment (NE) characteristics.
Methods
Neighborhoods were selected to represent high (favorable) versus low (unfavorable)
on the two measures, forming four neighborhood types (low on both measures, low PAE/high
NE, high PAE/low NE, and high on both measures). Weight and height of children aged
6–11 years and one parent (n=730) from selected neighborhoods were assessed in 2007–2009. Differences in child
and parent overweight and obesity by neighborhood type were examined, adjusting for
neighborhood-, family-, and individual-level demographics.
Results
Children from neighborhoods high on both environment measures were less likely to
be obese (7.7% vs 15.9%, OR=0.44, p=0.02) and marginally less likely to be overweight (23.7% vs 31.7%, OR=0.67, p=0.08) than children from neighborhoods low on both measures. In models adjusted for
parent weight status and demographic factors, neighborhood environment type remained
related to child obesity (high vs low on both measures, OR=0.41, p<0.03). Parents in neighborhoods high on both measures (versus low on both) were marginally
less likely to be obese (20.1% vs 27.7%, OR=0.66, p=0.08), although parent overweight did not differ by neighborhood environment. The
lower odds of parent obesity in neighborhoods with environments supportive of physical
activity and healthy eating remained in models adjusted for demographics (high vs
low on the environment measures, OR=0.57, p=0.053).
Conclusions
Findings support the proposed GIS-based definitions of obesogenic neighborhoods for
children and parents that consider both physical activity and nutrition environment
features.
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Article info
Footnotes
James Sallis was employed at San Diego State University when this research was completed.
Identification
Copyright
© 2012 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
