Dataset Information

Childhood obesity and neighborhood food-store availability in an inner-city community.

ABSTRACT: Prior studies have shown an association between fast-food restaurants and adolescent body size. Less is known about the influence of neighborhood food stores on a child's body size. We hypothesized that in the inner-city, minority community of East Harlem, New York, the presence of convenience stores and fast-food restaurants near a child's home is associated with increased risk for childhood obesity as measured by body mass index (BMI).Baseline data of 6- to 8-year-old East Harlem boys and girls (N=323) were used. Anthropometry (height and weight) was conducted with a standardized protocol. Food-store data were collected via a walking survey. Stores located within the same census block as the child's home address were identified by using ArcGIS 8.3. We computed age- and sex-specific BMI percentiles by using national norms of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Using odds ratios, we estimated risk of a child's BMI percentile being in the top tertile based on number and types of food stores on their census blocks.Convenience stores were present in 55% of the surveyed blocks in which a study particpant lived and fast-food restaurants were present in 41%. Children (n=177) living on a block with 1 or more convenience stores (range, 1-6) were more likely to have a BMI percentile in the top tertile (odds ratio 1.90, 95% confidence interval, 1.15-3.15) compared with children having no convenience stores (n=146).The presence of convenience stores near a child's residence was associated with a higher BMI percentile. This has potential implications for both child- and neighborhood-level childhood obesity interventions.

SUBMITTER: Galvez MP

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2770899 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Sep-Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Childhood obesity and neighborhood food-store availability in an inner-city community.

Galvez Maida P MP Hong Lu L Choi Elizabeth E Liao Laura L Godbold James J Brenner Barbara B

Academic pediatrics 20090627 5

<h4>Objective</h4>Prior studies have shown an association between fast-food restaurants and adolescent body size. Less is known about the influence of neighborhood food stores on a child's body size. We hypothesized that in the inner-city, minority community of East Harlem, New York, the presence of convenience stores and fast-food restaurants near a child's home is associated with increased risk for childhood obesity as measured by body mass index (BMI).<h4>Design</h4>Baseline data of 6- to 8-y ...[more]

PMID: 19560992

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Project description:Eviction affects a substantial share of U.S. children, but its effects on child health are largely unknown. Our objectives were to examine how eviction relates to 1) children's health and sociodemographic characteristics at birth, 2) neighborhood poverty and food security at age 5, and 3) obesity in later childhood and adolescence. We analyzed data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a longitudinal cohort of children born in 20 large U.S. cities. Children who lived in rental housing with known eviction histories and measured outcomes were included. We compared maternal and infant health and sociodemographic characteristics at the time of the child's birth. We then characterized the associations between eviction and neighborhood poverty and food security at age 5 and obesity at ages 5, 9, and 15 using log binomial regression with inverse probability of treatment and censoring weights. Of the 2556 children included in objective 1, 164 (6%) experienced eviction before age 5. Children who experienced eviction had lower household income and maternal education and were more likely to be born to mothers who were unmarried, smoked during pregnancy, and had mental health problems. Evicted and non-evicted children were equally likely to experience high neighborhood poverty at age 5 (prevalence ratio (PR) = 1.03, 95% CI 0.82, 1.29) but had an increased prevalence of low food security (PR = 2.16, 95% CI 1.46, 3.19). Obesity prevalence did not differ at age 5 (PR = 1.01; 95% CI 0.58, 1.75), 9 (PR = 1.08; 95% CI 0.715, 1.55); or 15 (PR = 1.05; 95% CI 0.51, 2.18). In conclusion, children who went on to experience eviction showed signs of poor health and socioeconomic disadvantage already at birth. Eviction in early childhood was not associated with children's likelihood of neighborhood poverty, suggesting that eviction may not qualitatively change children's neighborhood conditions in this disadvantaged sample. Though we saw evidence supporting an association with low child food security at age 5, we did not find eviction to be associated with obesity in later childhood and adolescence.

Dataset Information

Childhood obesity and neighborhood food-store availability in an inner-city community.

Publications

Childhood obesity and neighborhood food-store availability in an inner-city community.

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