Description
- Abstract:
- Background: Obesity is a serious and common health problem in the U.S. that affects 18.5% of children. Thirty percent of Rhode Island youth ages 2-17 are overweight and obese. This study examined how proximity to food sources differed at the block group and town level stratified by socioeconomic risk and how the average distance to a food source was associated with child overweight and obesity rates in Rhode Island. Methods: Food environment data were collected from website searches and categorized into 13 groups. Residences in Rhode Island were obtained from the Rhode Island Enhanced 9-1-1 dataset. Eight correlated variables from the 2014-2018 American Community Survey were used to measure high and low socioeconomic risk at the block group and town level. Food environment and residential addresses were geocoded using ArcGIS. The proximity of residences to food sources was calculated using ArcGIS Network Analyst. Weighted linear regression models were used to assess the association between mean driving distance to food source locations in each town and the prevalence of child overweight and obesity in Rhode Island children ages 2-17, using Stata. Results: All food sources were closer to residences in the high socioeconomic risk group than the low-risk group at the block group and town level. Convenience stores (adjusted beta= -3.67; 95% CI= -6.63,-0.71), sit-down restaurants (adjusted beta= -3.85; 95% CI=-7.17,-0.53), and snack and beverage stores (adjusted beta= -2.53; 95% CI= -4.56, -0.49) showed the largest associations with prevalence of child overweight and obesity. Conclusion: Findings suggest that the shorter the distance to a food source, the higher the rate of child overweight and obesity. Efforts to better understand the food environment are needed to address overweight and obesity among youth.
- Notes:
- Thesis (M. P. H.)--Brown University, 2020
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- All rights reserved. Collection is open to the Brown community for research.
Citation
Guevara, Esmeralda,
"A Spatial Analysis of the Food Environment and Overweight and Obesity Among Rhode Island Youth"
(2020).
Public Health Theses and Dissertations.
Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library.
https://doi.org/10.26300/pgkn-vs40
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Public Health Theses and Dissertations
Theses and Dissertations for the Public Health department....