Association between Neighborhood Food Environment and Body Mass Index among Older Adults in Beijing, China: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the association between the neighborhood food environment and body mass index (BMI) among Chinese older adults. Methods: A multi-stage stratified random sampling method was used to recruit participants from 12 communities in Beijing, China, in 2019. Participants (n = 1764, 1034 women) in this study were older adults aged 65 to 80. We collected the participants’ basic information, measured their height and weight, and calculated their BMI. Neighborhood food environments were measured by the density of and proximity to different food outlets using the Baidu Map Application Programming Interface. Adjusted multiple linear regression was performed to estimate the association between the food environment and BMI. Results: Participants had a mean age of 69.7 ± 4.32 years old and an average BMI of 26.3 ± 3.50 kg/m2. Among the three types of stores, convenience stores had the easiest access, followed by greengrocers and supermarkets. Sit-down restaurants had the best access among different restaurants, followed by Chinese fast-food restaurants, and western fast-food restaurants had the worst access. Easier access to greengrocers (β = 0.281, p < 0.001) and sit-down restaurants (β = 0.304, p < 0.001) was associated with higher BMI in the 250 m buffer zone. More supermarkets were associated with higher BMI in the 500 m buffer zone (β = 0.593, p < 0.001). Access to convenience stores was positively associated with BMI in the 800 m buffer zone (β = 0.057, p < 0.001). Better access to Chinese fast-food restaurants was associated with higher BMI (β = 0.071, p = 0.001), and better access to western fast- food restaurants was associated with lower BMI (β = −0.400, p < 0.001) in the 1000 m buffer zone. There was a negative association between the nearest distance to greengrocers and BMI (β = -0.004, p < 0.001). Conclusion: Although we found some significant associations between the neighborhood food environment and obesity, the current results are not strong enough to draw specific conclusions. Policymakers will need to rely on more evidence to derive concrete policy recommendations.

Associations between Fast-Food Restaurants Surrounding Kindergartens and Childhood Obesity: Evidence from China

“…Some studies have also used data at the individual level by questionnaires or surveys. However, the data are generally from one region, and the results are not generalizable to all of China [13,51]. Our data are from 85 cities and 23 provinces, which reflects the universal situation in China.…”

“…Xu et al found that community exposure to Western fast-food restaurants was positively associated with adults' body weight status in the rural population, and this association was temporally dynamic [50]. Using cross-sectional data in 2019 and adjusted multiple linear regression, Zhang et al identified some significant associations between the neighborhood food environment and obesity in older Chinese adults 65 to 80 years of age [51]. In summary, we found no evidence in China on the associations between fast-food restaurants and obesity specifically in preschool children.…”

Association between neighborhood food environment and dietary diversity score among older people in Beijing, China: A cross-sectional study

“…The current study also showed that, the construction of large supermarkets around the neighborhood may improve the dietary diversity of the elderly. However, our previously published research found that supermarkets may be related to the high BMI of the elderly ( 17 ). Therefore, it is important to improve the consumption environment inside the supermarkets and educate the elderly to choose healthy food.…”

“…There are many methods to measure the neighborhood food environment, such as questionnaire or phone survey, commercial data list, and Geographic Information System (GIS) Technology ( 17 ). The Baidu Map Application Programming Interface (API) (Baidu, Beijing, China) used to be widely used in fields of transportation, surveying, and mapping engineering ( 18 , 19 ).…”

The Influencing Factors of Nutrition and Diet Health Knowledge Dissemination Using the WeChat Official Account in Health Promotion

“…Throughout the past three decades, the dietary intake of Chinese people has changed substantially ( 3 , 30 ), and the current dietary structure is unreasonable. Combined with the unhealthy lifestyle factors of insufficient physical activity, smoking, and excessive drinking, the problems of overweightness, obesity, and diet-related chronic diseases are becoming increasingly more serious in China ( 31 , 32 ). Obesity increases the risk of many chronic diseases, such as hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes.…”