Residential instability and obesity over time: The role of the social and built environment

Body mass index and association with use of and distance from places for physical activity and active leisure among schoolchildren in Brazil. Cross-sectional study

“…5 Children and adolescents who report living close to such places tend to have lower body mass index (BMI) and lower values for other measurements of obesity. 6,7 It has also been indicated in the literature that there are differences in the patterns of usage of neighborhood facilities when different socioeconomic strata are investigated, whether assessed at the family 8 or area level (the latter based on area of residence). 9 However, the majority of published studies evaluating individuals of school age have been conducted in high-income countries, located in the northern hemisphere.…”

Residential mobility in early childhood and obesity at kindergarten age among children from the United States

“…In the second analysis of Add Health, the relationship between residential mobility and obesity was further investigated by incorporating more specific characteristics of the physical environment. After adjusting for time‐varying individual and spatial measures, such as physical activity, resource availability, and crime rates, the association between mobility and BMI was no longer statistically significant . While these results offer some support for the direction of the effect detected in our analyses, they assess the relationship between residential mobility and obesity among adolescents transitioning into adulthood.…”

“…However, given differences in the age of participants and other methods, we caution against direct comparisons. In two analyses of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), a large nationally representative sample of adolescents from the United States in grades 7 to 12 enrolled during the 1994 to 1995 school year and followed prospectively into adulthood, Jones found small effects, suggesting that more frequent residential moves were associated with lower BMI over time. However, effects were partially explained by individual characteristics, health behaviours, and indicated slight differences between individuals living in urban versus non‐urban areas .…”

“…Another study of children from south‐west England found limited evidence for increased body mass index (BMI) among children 4 to 8 years of age and stronger evidence for increased BMI at 17 years of age when children moved three or more times in their first 4 years of life . Finally, two analyses from a large, nationally representative sample of adolescents from the United States found that greater residential mobility was associated with a lower likelihood of obesity in adulthood . Together, these studies of overweight and obesity provide inconsistent evidence regarding the nature of the relationship between changing residence and weight status.…”

Prevalence and Determinants of Overweight and Obesity in Preschoolers in Miami-Dade County

“…Reports from longitudinal studies indicate changes in child body mass index (BMI) may take place in response to changes in the neighborhood food store environment across time (Chen & Wang, 2016). With changes in environmental characteristics, mobility may serve a protective role in weight gain during the lifespan (Jones, 2015). The time factor on the x axis signifies the cumulative exposures, whether immediate, proximate, intermediate, or fundamental, prone to variable induction and outcome times (Daniel et al, 2008;Schulz et al, 2005).…”