Influences of the Neighbourhood Food Environment on Adiposity of Low-Income Preschool-Aged Children in Los Angeles County: A Longitudinal Study

Details

• Personal Author:
  Chaparro MP ; Crespi CM ; Koleilat M ; Nobari TZ ; Seto E ; Wang MC ; Whaley SE
• Description:
  Background: Few studies have examined the association between the food environment and adiposity in early childhood, a critical time for obesity prevention. The objective of this study was to examine the longitudinal association between neighbourhood food environment and adiposity among low-income preschool-aged children in a major metropolitan region in the USA. Methods: The study sample was 32 172 low-income preschool-aged children in Los Angeles County who had repeated weight and height measurements collected between ages 2 and 5 years through a federal nutrition assistance programme. We conducted multilevel longitudinal analyses to examine how spatial densities of healthy and unhealthy retail food outlets in the children's neighbourhoods were related to adiposity, as measured by weight-for-height z-score (WHZ), while controlling for neighbourhood-level income and education, family income, maternal education, and child's gender and race/ethnicity. Results: Density of healthy food outlets was associated with mean WHZ at age 3 in a non-linear fashion, with mean WHZ being lowest for those exposed to approximately 0.7 healthy food outlets per square mile and higher for lesser and greater densities. Density of unhealthy food outlets was not associated with child WHZ. Conclusions: We found a non-linear relationship between WHZ and density of healthy food outlets. Research aiming to understand the sociobehavioural mechanisms by which the retail food environment influences early childhood obesity development is complex and must consider contextual settings. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Community Health Services Diet Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Children Community Health Dietary Effects Food Obesity
• ISSN:
  0143-005X
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  California ; OSHA Region 10 ; OSHA Region 9 ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  68
• Issue:
  11
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20054833
• Citation:
  J Epidemiol Community Health 2014 Nov; 68(11):1027-1033
• Contact Point Address:
  Dr M Pia Chaparro, CHESS|Centre for Health Equity Studies, Stockholm University and Karolinska Institute, Sveavägen 160, Floor 5, 109 61 Stockholm, Sweden
• Email:
  pia.chaparro@chess.su.se
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2015
• Performing Organization:
  University of Washington
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health
• End Date:
  20250630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:731ae56fbbea7d4ff813e4a4d7da933aab404032bc9550ba763f32a0a90c13c826e3b9c1b70f3c4bf1b1f89bf00fe340cb2fe3d3c5740f2b95fd7c111eac914e
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/217253/cdc_217253_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 249.41 KB ]