Neighborhood Environment and Children's Physical Activity and Body Mass Index: Evidence from Military Personnel Installation Assignments

Datar, Ashlesha; Nicosia, Nancy; Wong, Elizabeth; Shier, Victoria

doi:10.1089/chi.2014.0094

Cited by 13 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…First, we addressed the potential concern that states with stronger CF&B policies might also have better neighborhood environments that promote healthier lifestyles by including additional controls for the neighborhood built environment based on parents’ scores on the subscales of the Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale – Youth Version. 26,27 Second, we estimated models that controlled for the strength of other state school wellness policies to address concerns that stronger CF&B policies might co-occur with other policies that influence BMI outcomes (details in appendix). Third, we estimated models that controlled for the state’s adult obesity rate to control for other state-specific factors (e.g.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effect of State Competitive Food and Beverage Regulations on Childhood Overweight and Obesity

Datar

Nicosia

2017

Journal of Adolescent Health

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Purpose Policy efforts for combating childhood obesity have sought stronger state policies for regulating competitive foods and beverages (CF&Bs) available in schools. However, the evidence linking state policies to children’s overall diet and body weight outcomes is limited and mixed, and experts have called for more rigorous studies that are able to address concerns about selection bias. The present study leverages a rare natural experiment where children in military families are “assigned” to different state policies, due to their military parent’s periodic relocation, to examine whether state CF&B policies were associated with children’s BMI and overweight or obesity. Methods We analyzed data from 894 children (12–13 years old) in Army families attending public schools located near 25 installations across 23 states in 2013. State CF&B policy measures from the Bridging the Gap project were linked to the child data. Primary outcomes included BMI z-scores and indicator for overweight or obesity. For a subsample of children with self-reported food frequency measures, we also examined the link between state CF&B policies and overall diet. All regression analyses adjusted for a rich set of child and family covariates. Results Having strong or weak policies was significantly associated with lower BMI z-scores, lower odds of overweight or obesity, and better dietary outcomes, relative to no policy. Conclusions A portfolio of policies that includes multiple strong policies is likely needed to observe any meaningful changes in BMI and obesity.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effect of State Competitive Food and Beverage Regulations on Childhood Overweight and Obesity

Datar

Nicosia

2017

Journal of Adolescent Health

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“…One example of these is PARA, which uses in-person audits to document features and incivilities at physical activity facilities (i.e., churches, commercial facilities, trails, parks, and schools) [32]. A sub-set of the standardised instruments was adapted for a child-centred environment, such as NEWS-Y [33][34][35][36][37][38] and NDAI-C [39]. Of those that measured health outcomes, the majority used either measured or reported Body Mass Index (BMI).…”

Section: Built Environment (Be) Measuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Measuring the Built Environment in Studies of Child Health—A Meta-Narrative Review of Associations

Ortegón-Sanchez

McEachan

Albert

et al. 2021

IJERPH

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Although the built environment (BE) is important for children’s health, there is little consensus about which features are most important due to differences in measurement and outcomes across disciplines. This meta-narrative review was undertaken by a multi-disciplinary team of researchers to summarise ways in which the BE is measured, and how this links to children’s health. A structured search of four databases across the relevant disciplines retrieved 108 relevant references. The most commonly addressed health-related outcomes were active travel, physical activity and play, and obesity. Many studies used objective (GIS and street audits) or standardised subjective (perceived) measurements of the BE. However, there was a wide variety, and sometimes inconsistency, in their definition and use. There were clear associations between the BE and children’s health. Objective physical activity and self-reported active travel, or obesity, were positively associated with higher street connectivity or walkability measures, while self-reported physical activity and play had the strongest association with reduced street connectivity, indicated by quieter, one-way streets. Despite the high heterogeneity found in BE measures and health outcomes, the meta-narrative approach enabled us to identify ten BE categories that are likely to support children’s health and be protective against some non-communicable disease risk factors. Future research should implement consistent BE measures to ensure key features are explored. A systems approach will be particularly relevant for addressing place-based health inequalities, given potential unintended health consequences of making changes to the BE.

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“…Descriptive statistics of the M-TEENS sample are presented in a previous paper (Datar et al, 2015). The mean age of children was 13.2 years.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Contextual Effects and Child Health and Cognition

Shier¹

2017

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Neighborhood Environment and Children's Physical Activity and Body Mass Index: Evidence from Military Personnel Installation Assignments

Abstract: Efforts to increase children's PA in military families should take into account that different aspects of the neighborhood environment matter for children living on- versus off-post.

Cited by 13 publications

References 24 publications

The Effect of State Competitive Food and Beverage Regulations on Childhood Overweight and Obesity

The Effect of State Competitive Food and Beverage Regulations on Childhood Overweight and Obesity

Measuring the Built Environment in Studies of Child Health—A Meta-Narrative Review of Associations

Contextual Effects and Child Health and Cognition

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