Dataset Information

Childhood Obesity and the Food Environment: A Population-Based Sample of Public School Children in New York City.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

This study aimed to examine the relationship between proximity to healthy and unhealthy food outlets around children's homes and their weight outcomes.

Methods

A total of 3,507,542 student-year observations of height and weight data from the 2009-2013 annual FitnessGram assessment of New York City public school students were used. BMI z scores were calculated, student obesity or obesity/overweight was determined using Centers for Disease Control and Prevention growth charts, and these data were combined with the locations of four food outlet types (fast-food restaurants, wait-service restaurants, corner stores, and supermarkets) to calculate distance to the nearest outlet. Associations between weight status outcomes and distance to these food outlet types were examined using neighborhood (census tract) fixed effects.

Results

Living farther than 0.025 mile (about half of a city block) from the nearest fast-food restaurant was associated with lower obesity and obesity/overweight risk and lower BMI z scores. Results ranged from 2.5% to 4.4% decreased obesity. Beyond this distance, there were generally no impacts of the food environment and little to no impact of other food outlet types.

Conclusions

Proximity to fast-food restaurants was inversely related to childhood obesity, but no relationships beyond that were seen. These findings can help better inform policies focused on food access, which could, in turn, reduce childhood obesity.

SUBMITTER: Elbel B

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6925337 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Childhood Obesity and the Food Environment: A Population-Based Sample of Public School Children in New York City.

Elbel Brian B Tamura Kosuke K McDermott Zachary T ZT Wu Erilia E Schwartz Amy Ellen AE

Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.) 20191101 1

<h4>Objective</h4>This study aimed to examine the relationship between proximity to healthy and unhealthy food outlets around children's homes and their weight outcomes.<h4>Methods</h4>A total of 3,507,542 student-year observations of height and weight data from the 2009-2013 annual FitnessGram assessment of New York City public school students were used. BMI z scores were calculated, student obesity or obesity/overweight was determined using Centers for Disease Control and Prevention growth cha ...[more]

PMID: 31675159

Similar Datasets

Project description:BACKGROUND:Promising school policies to improve children's diets include providing fresh fruits and vegetables (F&V) and competitive food restrictions on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), yet the impact of national implementation of these policies in US schools on cardiometabolic disease (CMD) risk factors and outcomes is not known. Our objective was to estimate the impact of national implementation of F&V provision and SSB restriction in US elementary, middle, and high schools on dietary intake and body mass index (BMI) in children and future CMD mortality. METHODS:We used comparative risk assessment (CRA) frameworks to model the impacts of these policies with input parameters from nationally representative surveys, randomized-controlled trials, and systematic reviews and meta-analyses. For children ages 5-18 years, this incorporated national data on current dietary intakes and BMI, impacts of these policies on diet, and estimated effects of dietary changes on BMI. In adults ages 25 and older, we further incorporated the sustainability of dietary changes to adulthood, effects of dietary changes on CMD, and national CMD death statistics, modeling effects if these policies had been in place when current US adults were children. Uncertainty across inputs was incorporated using 1000 Monte Carlo simulations. RESULTS:National F&V provision would increase daily fruit intake in children by as much as 25.0% (95% uncertainty interval (UI): 15.4, 37.7%), and would have small effects on vegetable intake. SSB restriction would decrease daily SSB intake by as much as 26.5% (95% UI: 6.4, 46.4%), and reduce BMI by as much as 0.7% (95% UI: 0.2, 1.2%). If F&V provision and SSB restriction were nationally implemented, an estimated 22,383 CMD deaths/year (95% UI: 18735, 25930) would be averted. CONCLUSION:National school F&V provision and SSB restriction policies implemented in elementary, middle, and high schools could improve diet and BMI in children and reduce CMD mortality later in life.

Dataset Information

Childhood Obesity and the Food Environment: A Population-Based Sample of Public School Children in New York City.

Objective

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Childhood Obesity and the Food Environment: A Population-Based Sample of Public School Children in New York City.

Similar Datasets

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