Food Availability En Route to School and Anthropometric Change in Urban Children

Overview

Journal J Urban Health

Publisher Springer

Specialty General Medicine

Date 2013 Feb 9

PMID 23392564

Citations 14

Authors

Lauren M Rossen

Frank C Curriero

Michele Cooley-Strickland

Keshia M Pollack

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

This study examined food availability along children's paths to and from elementary school, and associations with change in body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference over 1 year. Secondary data from 319 children aged 8-13 years from the "Multiple Opportunities to Reach Excellence" Project was used. Child anthropometry and demographic variables were obtained at baseline (2007) and 1 year follow-up. Food outlet locations (n = 1,410) were obtained from the Baltimore City Health Department and validated by ground-truthing. Secondary data on healthy food availability within select food stores in Baltimore City in 2007 were obtained via a validated food environment assessment measure, the Nutrition Environments Measures Study. Multilevel models were used to examine associations between availability of healthy food and number of various food outlets along paths to school and child anthropometric change over 1 year. Controlling for individual-, neighborhood-, and school-level characteristics, results indicated that higher healthy food availability within a 100 m buffer of paths to school was associated with 0.15 kg/m(2) lower BMI gain (p = 0.015) and 0.47 cm smaller waist circumference gain (p = 0.037) over 1 year. Although prior research has illuminated the importance of healthy food choices within school and home environments, the current study suggests that exposure to the food environment along paths to school should be further explored in relation to child health outcomes.

Citing Articles

Geospatial Food Environment Exposure and Obesity Among Low Income Baltimore City Children: Associations Differ by Data Source and Processing Method.

Kharmats A, Corrigan A, Curriero F, Neff R, Caulfield L, Kennedy C J Hunger Environ Nutr. 2024; 19(5):694-717.

PMID: 39600470 PMC: 11588286. DOI: 10.1080/19320248.2022.2090882.

Physical Activity and Food Environments in and around Schools: A Case Study in Regional North-West Tasmania.

Jayasinghe S, Flies E, Soward R, Kendal D, Kilpatrick M, Cleland V Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022; 19(10).

PMID: 35627775 PMC: 9140536. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph19106238.

Racial/ethnic disparities in childhood obesity: The role of school segregation.

Mahmood N, Sanchez-Vaznaugh E, Matsuzaki M, Sanchez B Obesity (Silver Spring). 2022; 30(5):1116-1125.

PMID: 35470976 PMC: 9097556. DOI: 10.1002/oby.23416.

Relationship between retail food outlets near public schools and adolescent obesity in New York City.

Rummo P, Wu E, McDermott Z, Schwartz A, Elbel B Health Place. 2020; 65:102408.

PMID: 32861053 PMC: 7540254. DOI: 10.1016/j.healthplace.2020.102408.

State-of-the-art of measures of the obesogenic environment for children.

Mei K, Huang H, Xia F, Hong A, Chen X, Zhang C Obes Rev. 2020; 22 Suppl 1:e13093.

PMID: 32725754 PMC: 7988549. DOI: 10.1111/obr.13093.

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