Neighborhood Environment Measurements and Anthropometric Indicators of Obesity: Results From the Women and Their Children's Health (WaTCH) Study

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Samaah Sullivan, Emory University; Edward S. Peters, Louisiana State University; Edward J. Trapido, Louisiana State University; Evrim Oral, Louisiana State University; Richard A. Scribner, Louisiana State University; Ariane L. Rung, Louisiana State University
• Language: English
• Date: 2018-11-01
• Publisher: SAGE Publications (UK and US)
• Publication Version: Author Accepted Manuscript (After Peer Review)
• Copyright Statement: © The Author(s) 2017.
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0013916517726827
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Environment and Behavior
• ISSN: 0013-9165
• Volume: 50
• Issue: 9
• Start Page: 1032
• End Page: 1055
• Grant/Funding Information: SMS reports postdoctoral funding through Emory University by the National Institutes of Health T32 grant THL130025A.; This work was supported by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (grant 1U01ES021497).
• Keywords: GIS (geographic information system); public health; Environmental Studies; Environmental Sciences & Ecology; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; BODY-MASS INDEX; OLDER-ADULTS; Psychology, Multidisciplinary; behavior change; BUILT ENVIRONMENT; Psychology; neighborhood; UNITED-STATES; FOOD ENVIRONMENT; Social Sciences; Science & Technology; OVERWEIGHT; COLLECTIVE EFFICACY; RISK; WAIST CIRCUMFERENCE; PHYSICAL-ACTIVITY; community; mixed methods
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Public Health; Environmental Sciences

Abstract

We compared geographic information system (GIS)- and Census-based approaches for measuring the physical and social neighborhood environment at the census tract-level versus an audit approach on associations with body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR). Data were used from the 2012-2014 Women and Their Children’s Health (WaTCH) Study (n = 940). Generalized linear models were used to obtain odds ratios (ORs) for BMI (≥30 kg/m2), WC (>88 cm), and WHR (>0.85). Using an audit approach, more adverse neighborhood characteristics were associated with a higher odds of WC (OR: 1.10; 95% confidence interval [CI]: [1.05, 1.15]) and WHR (OR: 1.09; 95% CI: [1.05, 1.14]) after adjustment for age, race/ethnicity, income, and oil spill exposure. There were no significant associations between GIS- and Census-based measures with obesity in adjusted models. Quality aspects of the neighborhood environment captured by audits at the individual-level may be more relevant to obesity than physical or social aspects at the census tract-level.