Dataset Information

Decomposing Racial Disparities in Obesity Prevalence: Variations in Retail Food Environment.

ABSTRACT: Racial disparities in obesity exist at the individual and community levels. Retail food environment has been hypothesized to be associated with racial disparities in obesity prevalence. This study aimed to quantify how much food environment measures explain racial disparities in obesity at the county level.Data from 2009 to 2010 on 3,135 U.S. counties were extracted from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Environment Atlas and the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and analyzed in 2013. Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition was used to quantify the portion of the gap in adult obesity prevalence observed between counties with a high and low proportion of African-American residents is explained by food environment measures (e.g., proximity to grocery stores, per capita fast-food restaurants). Counties were considered to have a high African-American population if the percentage of African-American residents was >13.1%, which represents the 2010 U.S. Census national estimate of percentage African-American citizens.There were 665 counties (21%) classified as a high African-American county. The total gap in mean adult obesity prevalence between high and low African-American counties was found to be 3.35 percentage points (32.98% vs 29.63%). Retail food environment measures explained 13.81% of the gap in mean age-adjusted adult obesity prevalence.Retail food environment explains a proportion of the gap in adult obesity prevalence observed between counties with a high proportion of African-American residents and counties with a low proportion of African-American residents.

SUBMITTER: Singleton CR

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4762716 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Decomposing Racial Disparities in Obesity Prevalence: Variations in Retail Food Environment.

Singleton Chelsea R CR Affuso Olivia O Sen Bisakha B

American journal of preventive medicine 20151023 3

<h4>Introduction</h4>Racial disparities in obesity exist at the individual and community levels. Retail food environment has been hypothesized to be associated with racial disparities in obesity prevalence. This study aimed to quantify how much food environment measures explain racial disparities in obesity at the county level.<h4>Methods</h4>Data from 2009 to 2010 on 3,135 U.S. counties were extracted from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Environment Atlas and the Behavioral Risk Factor ...[more]

PMID: 26507301

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Project description:BackgroundRecent obesity prevention initiatives focus on healthy neighborhood design, but most research examines neighborhood food retail and physical activity (PA) environments in isolation. We estimated joint, interactive, and cumulative impacts of neighborhood food retail and PA environment characteristics on body mass index (BMI) throughout early adulthood.Methods and findingsWe used cohort data from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) Study [n=4,092; Year 7 (24-42 years, 1992-1993) followed over 5 exams through Year 25 (2010-2011); 12,921 person-exam observations], with linked time-varying geographic information system-derived neighborhood environment measures. Using regression with fixed effects for individuals, we modeled time-lagged BMI as a function of food and PA resource density (counts per population) and neighborhood development intensity (a composite density score). We controlled for neighborhood poverty, individual-level sociodemographics, and BMI in the prior exam; and included significant interactions between neighborhood measures and by sex. Using model coefficients, we simulated BMI reductions in response to single and combined neighborhood improvements. Simulated increase in supermarket density (from 25(th) to 75(th) percentile) predicted inter-exam reduction in BMI of 0.09 kg/m(2) [estimate (95% CI): -0.09 (-0.16, -0.02)]. Increasing commercial PA facility density predicted BMI reductions up to 0.22 kg/m(2) in men, with variation across other neighborhood features [estimate (95% CI) range: -0.14 (-0.29, 0.01) to -0.22 (-0.37, -0.08)]. Simultaneous increases in supermarket and commercial PA facility density predicted inter-exam BMI reductions up to 0.31 kg/m(2) in men [estimate (95% CI) range: -0.23 (-0.39, -0.06) to -0.31 (-0.47, -0.15)] but not women. Reduced fast food restaurant and convenience store density and increased public PA facility density and neighborhood development intensity did not predict reductions in BMI.ConclusionsFindings suggest that improvements in neighborhood food retail or PA environments may accumulate to reduce BMI, but some neighborhood changes may be less beneficial to women.

Project description:ObjectivesThe prevalence of childhood obesity is significantly higher among racial and/or ethnic minority children in the United States. It is unclear to what extent well-established obesity risk factors in infancy and preschool explain these disparities. Our objective was to decompose racial and/or ethnic disparities in children's weight status according to contributing socioeconomic and behavioral risk factors.MethodsWe used nationally representative data from ∼10 700 children in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Birth Cohort who were followed from age 9 months through kindergarten entry. We assessed the contribution of socioeconomic factors and maternal, infancy, and early childhood obesity risk factors to racial and/or ethnic disparities in children's BMI z scores by using Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition analyses.ResultsThe prevalence of risk factors varied significantly by race and/or ethnicity. African American children had the highest prevalence of risk factors, whereas Asian children had the lowest prevalence. The major contributor to the BMI z score gap was the rate of infant weight gain during the first 9 months of life, which was a strong predictor of BMI z score at kindergarten entry. The rate of infant weight gain accounted for between 14.9% and 70.5% of explained disparities between white children and their racial and/or ethnic minority peers. Gaps in socioeconomic status were another important contributor that explained disparities, especially those between white and Hispanic children. Early childhood risk factors, such as fruit and vegetable consumption and television viewing, played less important roles in explaining racial and/or ethnic differences in children's BMI z scores.ConclusionsDifferences in rapid infant weight gain contribute substantially to racial and/or ethnic disparities in obesity during early childhood. Interventions implemented early in life to target this risk factor could help curb widening racial and/or ethnic disparities in early childhood obesity.

Dataset Information

Decomposing Racial Disparities in Obesity Prevalence: Variations in Retail Food Environment.

Publications

Decomposing Racial Disparities in Obesity Prevalence: Variations in Retail Food Environment.

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