Neighbourhood food environments: are they associated with adolescent dietary intake, food purchases and weight status?

Abstract

Objective To examine neighbourhood food environments, adolescent nutrition and weight status. Design Cross-sectional, observational study. Setting Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan region, Minnesota, USA. Subjects A total of 349 adolescents were recruited to the study. Participants completed 24 h dietary recalls and had their weight and height measured. They also reported demographic information and other diet-related behaviours. Geographic Information Systems were used to examine the availability and proximity of food outlets, particularly those captured within the 800, 1600 and/or 3000m network buffers around participants' homes and schools. Results Adjusting for gender, age and socio-economic status, adolescents' sugar-sweetened beverage intake was associated with residential proximity to restaurants (including fast food), convenience stores, grocery stores and other retail facilities within the 800 and/or 1600m residential buffers (P ≤ 0.01). BMI Z-score and percentage body fat were positively associated with the presence of a convenience store within a 1600m buffer. Other individual-level factors, such as energy, fruit and vegetable intake, as well as convenience store and fast food purchasing, were not significantly associated with features of the residential neighbourhood food environment in adjusted models. In addition, school neighbourhood environments yielded few associations with adolescent outcomes. Conclusions Many factors are likely to have an important role in influencing adolescent dietary intake and weight status. Interventions aimed at increasing neighbourhood access to healthy foods, as well as other approaches, are needed.

The association between the food environment and weight status among eastern North Carolina youth

“…In the future, the selection of appropriate buffer sizes to estimate venue coverage should balance (i) the variability of venue coverage, (ii) feasible distances that youth may travel and (iii) significant associations with outcomes of interest. More work is needed to determine appropriate buffer sizes to calculate coverage of food venues for studies of the food environment (14,19) . In the current study, we found associations in the expected positive directions between BMI percentile and coverage of fast-food venues in the 0?8 km Euclidean and road network buffers.…”

“…We also did not find hypothesized positive associations between proximity to the closest chain supermarket and BMI percentile. As Laska et al (19) assert, it could be that in areas where the environment is saturated with food venues, individual choices and social influences play a bigger role in determining youth food choices than does the food environment.…”

Chemical and non-chemical stressors affecting childhood obesity: a systematic scoping review

“…100 Neighborhood Food Outlets Many food outlets readily accessible to children have poor dietary choices (e.g., fast-food restaurants, convenience stores, small food stores) with high fat, large portion sizes, and sugary drink options. [111][112][113] Research shows that children who have easy access to poor quality food outlets tend to have a higher BMI and the potential to become overweight/obese when compared to children who do not have easy access to these food outlet types. 107 In addition, the built environment plays a critical role in how adolescents perceive distances and safety to these various food outlets.…”

“…Studies show that these types of stores, when in close proximity to neighborhoods or schools, increased the likelihood of purchases made at these food outlet types. 107,[111][112][113][114] Sanchez et al 111 indicated that minorities, specifically in neighborhoods that are predominantly Hispanic and African American, have a higher prevalence of obesity related to neighborhood food choices, and that 1/3 of all U.S. public middle and high schools have at least one fast food or convenience store within walking distance. In 2011, Leung et al 114 suggested that residents with more produce vendors or farmers markets nearby had a lower risk of being overweight/ obese.…”

Socio-economic differences in predictors of frequent dairy food consumption among Australian adolescents: a longitudinal study

“…Social ecological models have been employed to provide a useful theoretical framework to further understand the range of intrapersonal, social and environmental determinants of adolescent dietary behaviour (14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20) . Examples of intrapersonal factors associated with adolescent diet include self-efficacy, perceived importance of health behaviours, taste preferences, food-related behaviours such as frequencies of meals and fast-food consumption, and barriers to healthy eating including expense, limited time and inconvenience (14) .…”