Obesity-Promoting Food Environments and the Spatial Clustering of Food Outlets Around Schools

Day, Peter; Pearce, Jamie

doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2010.10.018

Cited by 136 publications

(182 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Additionally, two researchers undertook an audit of all food outlets located within 400 m and 800 m Euclidean buffer zones (41) around each school, using the Food Outlet Classification Tool described by Lake et al (42) . An 800 m buffer size was chosen as it is commonly used in local authority planning and is a common measure of the region of influence in research about food access around schools (17,(43)(44)(45)(46) .…”

Section: Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the opportunities for food and drink purchasing and consumption by teenagers during their journeys between home and school: a feasibility study using a novel method

Cowburn

Matthews

Hamilton

et al. 2015

Public Health Nutr.

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Objective: To investigate the feasibility and acceptability of using wearable cameras as a method to capture the opportunities for food and drink purchasing/consumption that young people encounter on their regular journeys to and from school. Design: A qualitative study using multiple data-collection methods including wearable cameras, global positioning system units, individual interviews, food and drink purchase and consumption diaries completed by participants over four days, and an audit of food outlets located within an 800 m Euclidean buffer zone around each school. Setting: A community setting. Subjects: Twenty-two students (fourteen girls and eight boys) aged 13-15 years recruited from four secondary schools in two counties of England. Results: Wearable cameras offered a feasible and acceptable method for collecting food purchase and consumption data when used alongside traditional methods of data collection in a small number of teenagers. We found evidence of participants making deliberate choices about whether or not to purchase/consume food and drink on their journeys. These choices were influenced by priorities over money, friends, journey length, travel mode and ease of access to opportunities for purchase/consumption. Most food and drink items were purchased/consumed within an 800 m Euclidean buffer around school, with items commonly selected being high in energy, fat and sugar. Wearable camera images combined with interviews helped identify unreported items and misreporting errors. Conclusions: Wearable camera images prompt detailed discussion and generate contextually specific information which could offer new insights and understanding around eating behaviour patterns. The feasibility of scaling up the use of these methods requires further empirical work. Concern over the nutritional adequacy of the habitual diets of children in England, alongside unprecedented levels of childhood obesity, has prompted interest in the impact of the wider food environment on the decisions children and young people take around food (1)(2)(3)(4)(5) . Although concepts of the food environment vary, definitions have generally been informed by social ecological models, which propose that healthrelated behaviours are influenced by a combination of factors that act at an individual, social, community and policy level (6) . Children and young people mainly connect with the food environment at home and in school through visiting food outlets and via their exposure and receptiveness to food advertising and promotion. With increasing age, they have greater autonomy to interact with the food environment unsupervised by adults and begin to take more personal control of their food choices (7)(8)(9)(10) . As evidence grows around the tracking of dietary intake between childhood and adulthood and its health implications (11) , it is important to understand the ways in which the interaction between the individual and the food environment take place in order to consider mechanisms for intervention which promote healthier f...

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Section: Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the opportunities for food and drink purchasing and consumption by teenagers during their journeys between home and school: a feasibility study using a novel method

Cowburn

Matthews

Hamilton

et al. 2015

Public Health Nutr.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…A Chicago-based study found that there were far greater numbers of fast-food outlets located within a 1?5 km radius of schools compared with the numbers that might be expected by chance (29) . Moreover, the densities of fastfood and convenience stores around schools have been found to vary according to neighbourhood income and ethnic composition (25)(26)(27)(28)30) . For example, a study of five large urban areas across New Zealand found a significant clustering of fast-food and convenience stores near more deprived schools and schools in areas of high population density and commercial land use (30) .…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

A temporal analysis of the spatial clustering of food outlets around schools in Christchurch, New Zealand, 1966 to 2006

Day

Pearce

Pearson

2013

Public Health Nutr.

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Objective: To explore changes in urban food environments near schools, as potential contributors to the rising prevalence of overweight and obesity among children. Design: Addresses of food premises and schools in 1966, 1976, 1986, 1996 and 2006 were geo-coded. For each year, the number and proportion of outlets by category (supermarket/grocery; convenience; fast-food outlet) within 800 m of schools were calculated. The degree of spatial clustering of outlets was assessed using a bivariate K-function analysis. Food outlet categories, school level and school social deprivation quintiles were compared. Setting: Christchurch, New Zealand. Subjects: All schools and food outlets at 10-year snapshots from 1966 to 2006. Results: Between 1966 and 2006, the median number of supermarkets/grocery stores within 800 m of schools decreased from 5 to 1, convenience stores decreased from 2 to 1, and fast-food outlets increased from 1 to 4. The ratio of fast-food outlets to total outlets increased from 0?10 to 0?67. The clustering of fastfood outlets was greatest within 800 m of schools and around the most socially deprived schools. Over the 40-year study period, school food environments in Christchurch can be characterized by increased densities of fast-food outlets within walking distance of schools, especially around the most deprived schools. Conclusions: Since the 1960s, there have been substantial changes to the food environments around schools which may increasingly facilitate away-from-home food consumption for children and provide easily accessible, cheap energydense foods, a recognized contributor to the rise in prevalence of overweight and obesity among young people.

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“…The focus on concentrations or clustering of FFOS while important (Austin, Melley et al, 2005;Day and Pearce, 2011) may be missing the wider issue of how people and in this instance pupils access the food and the influence of the 'school foodshed' which is wider ranging than concentrations of outlets. For example the concentration near schools may be important but the routes which children take to school may be as important, as FFOS near the school, in terms of the food choices students make.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The “School Foodshed”: schools and fast-food outlets in a London borough

Caraher

Lloyd

Madelin

2014

British Food Journal

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Obesity-Promoting Food Environments and the Spatial Clustering of Food Outlets Around Schools

Cited by 136 publications

References 30 publications

Exploring the opportunities for food and drink purchasing and consumption by teenagers during their journeys between home and school: a feasibility study using a novel method

Exploring the opportunities for food and drink purchasing and consumption by teenagers during their journeys between home and school: a feasibility study using a novel method

A temporal analysis of the spatial clustering of food outlets around schools in Christchurch, New Zealand, 1966 to 2006

The “School Foodshed”: schools and fast-food outlets in a London borough

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