A cross-sectional study of the influence of neighborhood environment on childhood overweight and obesity: Variation by age, gender, and environment characteristics

• Published in: Preventive medicine 2018-03, Vol.108, p.23-28
• Main Authors: Yang, Yong, Jiang, Yu, Xu, Yanqing, Mzayek, Fawaz, Levy, Marian
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Age; Age Factors; Body Mass Index; Child; Childhood obesity; Childhood overweight; Cross-Sectional Studies; Environment; Female; Gender; Humans; Male; Neighborhood environment; Pediatric Obesity - epidemiology; Pediatric Obesity - ethnology; Poverty; Residence Characteristics - statistics & numerical data; Sex Factors; Students; Tennessee - epidemiology
• ISSN: 0091-7435; 1096-0260
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2017.12.021

To examine the influence of neighborhood environment on childhood overweight and obesity in Shelby County Schools, Tennessee, and whether and to what extent that influence varies by age, gender, and the specific environment characteristics. 41,283 students were surveyed covering both individual-level covariates and several objective measures of neighborhood environment. Multilevel logistic regressions were used to examine the influence of neighborhood-level variables on overweight+obesity and obesity with adjustment of individual-level covariates. Further, a stratified analysis for each of the six groups by school level and gender. For both overweight+obesity and obesity, younger children were less sensitive to neighborhood characteristics than older children, and boys are less sensitive than girls. For girls in middle and high schools, the risk of overweight+obesity and obesity were positively associated with population density, and negatively associated with percent of poverty and percent of unhealthy food. Boys' risk of overweight+obesity and obesity were positively associated with distance to park. Neighborhood environment plays an important role in childhood overweight and obesity, and the effects vary by age, gender, and the specific neighborhood characteristic. Intervention programs tailored to specific groups may be more effective than ones targeted to children as a whole. •Neighborhood environment affects childhood obesity, varying by age and gender.•Younger children are less sensitive to neighborhood environment than older children.•Boys are less sensitive to neighborhood environment than girls.•Boys' risk of obesity is associated with distance to park.•Girls' risk is associated with unhealthy food in the neighborhood.