Study Designs and Analytic Strategies for Environmental and Policy Research on Obesity, Physical Activity, and Diet

Abstract

Numerous authoritative reports have identified environmental and policy interventions as the most promising strategies for creating population-wide improvements in diet, physical activity, and obesity. Yet many methodologic challenges to conducting environmental and policy research must be overcome to enable this area of study to advance. A meeting titled "Study Designs and Analytic Strategies for Environmental and Policy Research on Obesity, Physical Activity, and Diet" was held April 8, 2008. Participants from diverse backgrounds identified priority gaps in knowledge and generated recommendations for promising methods to enhance environmental and policy research related to obesity. Final recommendations were based on a postmeeting participant survey.Existing methods were identified that could be applied to advance the field, including prospective studies, evaluations of natural experiments, and economic studies. Training for investigators in the use of appropriate statistical methods for complex designs and interdisciplinary collaboration were recommended. Methodologic research priorities included the development of measures of policy and health impact assessments and the investigation of policy adoption and implementation. The results of this conference can be used to improve the quality and quantity of environmental and policy research as well as the translation to action to control obesity.

Surveillance Systems to Track and Evaluate Obesity Prevention Efforts

“…Moreover, national-level policies tend to be modest in scope and hedged by many competing interest groups. We need to assess policy implementation, as well as complementary or supportive policies, both of which can promote the effectiveness of other approaches and strengthen ultimate impact (90,91,114).…”

“…Evaluation of policies related to obesity prevention should include measures of adoption and implementation, as well as prospective study designs (72,91). Several recently developed measures provide valid and quantifiable data for the environment ( Table 2).…”

“…Recommendations from an expert meeting on environmental and policy research on obesity, physical activity, and diet call for surveillance systems with good measures of the environment, policy surveillance measures, and systems; surveillance to track changes in food industry activities over time; attention to minority and low-income populations; and measures of valuation (91). Another review identified gaps in research related to macroenvironments (city or larger) and within economic and political microenvironments in home, workplace, and neighborhood settings (64).…”

Potentiel piétonnier des quartiers et mode de transport pour aller au travail : le cas des RMR du Québec

“…Les résultats de nos analyses sont comparables à ceux de plusieurs recherches portant sur l'association entre les caractéristiques de l'environnement bâti et la pratique de la marche ou du vélo (Craig et al, 2002 ;Leyden, 2003 ;Owen et al, 2007 ;Sallis et al, 2009 ;Van Dyck et al, 2010 ;Sunquist et al, 2011). L'analyse de la cartographie des résidus de second niveau confirme cette association.…”

“…Les SR se retrouvant dans les quatre premiers déciles sont considérés comme des quartiers ayant un faible potentiel piétonnier et les SR ayant un score se retrouvant dans les quatre derniers déciles sont considérés comme des quartiers ayant un potentiel piétonnier élevé. Cette méthode a été utilisée dans plusieurs autres recherches (Owen et al, 2007 ;Sallis et al, 2009 ;Van Dyck et al, 2010 ;Sundquist et al, 2011). …”