Association between full service and fast food restaurant density, dietary intake and overweight/obesity among adults in Delhi, India

• Published in: BMC public health 2017-07, Vol.18 (1), p.36-36, Article 36
• Main Authors: Patel, Opal, Shahulhameed, Safraj, Shivashankar, Roopa, Tayyab, Mohammad, Rahman, Atiqur, Prabhakaran, Dorairaj, Tandon, Nikhil, Jaacks, Lindsay M
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Adults; Analysis; Bicycles; Body mass index; Body Weight; Confidence intervals; Cross-Sectional Studies; Density; Diet; Diet - statistics & numerical data; Dietary intake; Education; Enumeration; Environment; Epidemics; Fast food; Fast food industry; Fast food restaurants; Fast Foods - statistics & numerical data; Female; Food; Food intake; Food outlets; Fuel consumption; Geographic information system; Geographic Information Systems; Global positioning systems; GPS; Health aspects; Households; Humans; Income; India; India - epidemiology; Logistic Models; Male; Megacities; Middle Aged; Motor vehicles; Nutrition; Obesity; Obesity - epidemiology; Odds Ratio; Overweight; Overweight - epidemiology; Physical activity; Population studies; Public health; Random sampling; Regression analysis; Regression models; Remote sensing; Residence Characteristics - statistics & numerical data; Residential density; Restaurants; Restaurants - statistics & numerical data; Social Class; Socioeconomic Factors; Socioeconomics; Statistical analysis; Statistical sampling; Studies; Tobacco
• ISSN: 1471-2458; 1471-2458
• DOI: 10.1186/s12889-017-4598-8

The food environment has been implicated as an underlying contributor to the global obesity epidemic. However, few studies have evaluated the relationship between the food environment, dietary intake, and overweight/obesity in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The aim of this study was to assess the association of full service and fast food restaurant density with dietary intake and overweight/obesity in Delhi, India. Data are from a cross-sectional, population-based study conducted in Delhi. Using multilevel cluster random sampling, 5364 participants were selected from 134 census enumeration blocks (CEBs). Geographic information system data were available for 131 CEBs (n = 5264) from a field survey conducted using hand-held global positioning system devices. The number of full service and fast food restaurants within a 1-km buffer of CEBs was recorded by trained staff using ArcGIS software, and participants were assigned to tertiles of full service and fast food restaurant density based on their resident CEB. Height and weight were measured using standardized procedures and overweight/obesity was defined as a BMI ≥25 kg/m . The most common full service and fast food restaurants were Indian savory restaurants (57.2%) and Indian sweet shops (25.8%). Only 14.1% of full service and fast food restaurants were Western style. After adjustment for age, household income, education, and tobacco and alcohol use, participants in the highest tertile of full service and fast food restaurant density were less likely to consume fruit and more likely to consume refined grains compared to participants in the lowest tertile (both p