Abstract P266: The Local Food Environment and Obesity: A Systematic Review

Circulation ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 131 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura K Cobb ◽  
Lawrence J Appel ◽  
Manuel Franco ◽  
Jessica C Jones-Smith ◽  
Cheryl A Anderson
Keyword(s):  
Food Availability ◽  
Food Environment ◽  
Fast Food ◽  
Local Food ◽  
Grocery Stores ◽  
Food Environments ◽  
Study Quality ◽  
The Us ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

Introduction: Numerous studies have explored the relationship of the local food environment and obesity. However, results have been inconsistent, and existing literature reviews have not taken into account study quality or the heterogeneity of measures of the local food environment. Methods: We used systematic keyword searches in Pubmed and Scopus to identify studies conducted in the US and Canada that assessed the relationship of obesity to the local availability of supermarkets, grocery stores, convenience stores, fast food restaurants or indices combining these measures. We developed a quality metric based on study design, exposure and outcome measurement and analysis, and then assigned each study a score. Results: We identified 71 studies representing 65 cohorts. Overall, study quality was low; 60 studies were cross-sectional. The approach to measuring local food environments varied: fast food availability was measured 31 ways in 44 studies. Associations between food outlet availability and obesity were predominantly null. In adults, we saw a trend among the non-null associations toward inverse associations between supermarket availability and obesity (22 inverse, 4 direct, 67 null) and direct associations between fast food and obesity (29 direct, 6 inverse, 71 null). In children, we saw robust direct associations between fast food availability and obesity in lower income populations only (12 direct, 7 null). In adults, indices made up of multiple types of outlets had resulted in the most consistent associations with obesity (18 expected, 23 null). Limiting analyses to higher quality studies did not affect results. Conclusions: We found limited evidence for associations between the local food environment and obesity. Quality issues, however, make causal inference difficult. Absent compelling direct evidence linking local food environments to obesity, policy makers will need to rely on other types of evidence as they address the environmental changes that contribute to the steep increase in obesity in the US.

scholarly journals The relationship of the local food environment with obesity: A systematic review of methods, study quality, and results

Obesity ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 23 (7) ◽  
pp. 1331-1344 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura K. Cobb ◽  
Lawrence J. Appel ◽  
Manuel Franco ◽  
Jessica C. Jones-Smith ◽  
Alana Nur ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Food Environment ◽  
Local Food ◽  
Study Quality ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

scholarly journals Erratum: The relationship of the local food environment with obesity: A systematic review of methods, study quality, and results

Obesity ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 23 (12) ◽  
pp. 2517-2519 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura K. Cobb ◽  
Lawrence J. Appel ◽  
Manuel Franco ◽  
Jessica C. Jones-Smith ◽  
Alana Nur ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Food Environment ◽  
Local Food ◽  
Study Quality ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract 98: Discount Food Stores in High Disadvantage Los Angeles County Neighborhoods Explain Most Individual Difference in Body Mass Index

2012 ◽  
Vol 5 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Capone-Newton ◽  
Arleen F Brown ◽  
Paul M Ong
Keyword(s):  
Los Angeles ◽  
Food Environment ◽  
Fast Food ◽  
English Language ◽  
Causal Link ◽  
Grocery Stores ◽  
Food Environments ◽  
Poor Diet ◽  
Discount Stores ◽  
Racial Ethnic

Introduction: Poor diet and physical inactivity is the second leading cause of mortality in the US after smoking. Cross-sectional, ecologic studies have associated specific obesogenic food environments (OFE examples: smaller distance to fast food restaurants, higher counts of fast food per population, larger distance to grocery stores, lower counts of grocery stores per population) to higher rates of poor diet or higher body mass index (BMI). OFEs are more prevalent in some low-income and racial/ethnic minority neighborhoods potentially contributing to widening health disparities. Recent analyses of two longitudinal cohorts (CARDIA; Framingham Offspring Cohort), found no associations between ecologic measures of OFEs and poor diet or BMI, possibly because they do not capture the characteristics of the OFEs associated with poor diet or BMI. Hypothesis: We assessed the hypothesis that current ecologic OFE measures do not capture the link between food environments and BMI because they ignore variability in food store types and actual distance traveled to purchase food. Populations defined by store type or distance may better describe the potential causal link. Methods: The Los Angeles Family and Neighborhood Survey (LAFANS) is a longitudinal cohort of 2619 households in Los Angeles County. In 2001-2, households were asked where they shopped for groceries (store name/location) and self-reported BMI. A six-category food environment measure based on store name and frequency was developed: high-frequency (HF) English-language named stores (“major chain”), discount stores (“less”, “value”, etc. in the name), HF Spanish-language stores, English-language specialty stores, multi-purpose or bulk purchase stores, other HF stores, and other low frequency stores of any language. We analyzed associations of this food environment measure with self-reported BMI, controlling for individual, household, and neighborhood characteristics. Results: In LAFANS households, 2297 (88%) reported both BMI and a valid store name. Of these, 37% of households shop at the nearest grocery store and only 13% shop in their home census tract. In adjusted models, discount store shoppers have substantially higher BMI than the referent group, major chain store shoppers in low disadvantage neighborhoods (BMI difference 1.40 points, (95% CI 0.62 - 2.18, p = 0.004), equivalent to a weight difference of 8.4 lbs. for an individual of median height and weight (5’5”,160 lbs.). Conclusions: In conclusion, distinguishing between store types may better describe the causal link between individuals, stores and BMI than ecologic measures. In L.A. County, discount stores, found almost exclusively in high disadvantage and racial/ethnic minority neighborhoods are associated with individual differences in BMI. Further research should assess whether the association between discount stores and BMI is related to unmeasured elements of store content or individual characteristics. Current policy efforts focused on modifying small markets or building major chain stores in high disadvantage neighborhoods may inadequately address food environment based racial/ethnic and income based health disparities in BMI.

scholarly journals The food environment and adult obesity in US metropolitan areas

2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Akihiko Michimi ◽  
Michael C. Wimberly
Keyword(s):  
Metropolitan Area ◽  
Food Environment ◽  
Fast Food ◽  
Metropolitan Areas ◽  
Food Environments ◽  
Fast Food Restaurant ◽  
Obesity Prevalence ◽  
Large Share ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
The Us

This research examines the larger-scale associations between obesity and food environments in metropolitan areas in the United States (US). The US Census County Business Patterns dataset for 2011 was used to construct various indices of food environments for selected metropolitan areas. The numbers of employees engaged in supermarkets, convenience stores, full service restaurants, fast food restaurants, and snack/coffee shops were standardised using the location quotients, and factor analysis was used to produce two uncorrelated factors measuring food environments. Data on obesity were obtained from the 2011 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. Individual level obesity measures were linked to the metropolitan area level food environment factors. Models were fitted using generalised estimating equations to control for metropolitan area level intra-correlation and individual level sociodemographic characteristics. It was found that adults residing in cities with a large share of supermarket and full-service restaurant workers were less likely to be obese, while adults residing in cities with a large share of convenience store and fast food restaurant workers were more likely to be obese. Supermarkets and full-service restaurant workers are concentrated in the Northeast and West of the US, where obesity prevalence is relatively lower, while convenience stores and fast-food restaurant workers are concentrated in the South and Midwest, where obesity prevalence is relatively higher. The food environment landscapes measured at the metropolitan area level explain the continental-scale patterns of obesity prevalence. The types of food that are readily available and widely served may translate into obesity disparities across metropolitan areas.

Do direct market farms use fewer agricultural chemicals? Evidence from the US census of agriculture

2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (5) ◽  
pp. 415-429 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ethan D. Schoolman
Keyword(s):  
Food Systems ◽  
Local Food ◽  
Local Food Systems ◽  
Agricultural Chemicals ◽  
The Us ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
Us Census ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Direct Market ◽  
Over Time

AbstractAre strong local food systems better for the environment than conventional food systems where relatively close proximity between points of production and consumption is not a defining characteristic? Despite growing support for efforts to strengthen local food systems, surprisingly little is known about the relationship of local food to environmental sustainability. In particular, the relationship of local food systems to the use of agricultural chemicals to manage pests, weeds and disease has not been a subject of systematic research. In this paper, I use longitudinal data from the US Census of Agriculture to explore whether growth in local food systems is associated with decreased on-farm use of agricultural chemicals. Drawing on county-level data from 1997 to 2012, I find that an increase in the strength of local food systems—whether measured as the number of farms that market products directly to consumers, or as the total value of direct market products—has been broadly associated with a decrease in spending on agricultural chemicals in the USA as a whole. But the magnitude of the relationship between direct marketing to consumers and changes in agricultural chemical use has dwindled over time, to the point where it is not clear whether contemporary local food systems are still incentivizing farmers to reduce their use of pesticides. Overall, this study lends new credence to the idea that robust local food systems can benefit the environment. But even where just one dimension of agriculture's impact on the environment is concerned, the characteristics of local food systems appear to have varied over time—a qualification that argues strongly for further research into the relationship of local food to agricultural practice.

From Competition to Cooperation: A History of Canada–US National Park Relations

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Terence Young ◽  
Alan MacEachern ◽  
Lary Dilsaver
Keyword(s):  
National Parks ◽  
National Park ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Us ◽  
Park Service ◽  
Settler Societies ◽  
History Of ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
Flow Of Information ◽  
The Relationship

This essay explores the evolving international relationship of the two national park agencies that in 1968 began to offer joint training classes for protected-area managers from around the world. Within the British settler societies that dominated nineteenth century park-making, the United States’ National Park Service (NPS) and Canada’s National Parks Branch were the most closely linked and most frequently cooperative. Contrary to campfire myths and nationalist narratives, however, the relationship was not a one-way flow of information and motivation from the US to Canada. Indeed, the latter boasted a park bureaucracy before the NPS was established. The relationship of the two nations’ park leaders in the half century leading up to 1968 demonstrates the complexity of defining the influences on park management and its diffusion from one country to another.

scholarly journals A Time-Based Objective Measure of Exposure to the Food Environment

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (7) ◽  
pp. 1180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason Scully ◽  
Anne Moudon ◽  
Philip Hurvitz ◽  
Anju Aggarwal ◽  
Adam Drewnowski
Keyword(s):  
Food Environment ◽  
Fast Food ◽  
Objective Measure ◽  
Mobility Patterns ◽  
Time Duration ◽  
Positioning Systems ◽  
Global Positioning ◽  
Fast Food Restaurants ◽  
Logistic Regressions ◽  
The Relationship

Exposure to food environments has mainly been limited to counting food outlets near participants’ homes. This study considers food environment exposures in time and space using global positioning systems (GPS) records and fast food restaurants (FFRs) as the environment of interest. Data came from 412 participants (median participant age of 45) in the Seattle Obesity Study II who completed a survey, wore GPS receivers, and filled out travel logs for seven days. FFR locations were obtained from Public Health Seattle King County and geocoded. Exposure was conceptualized as contact between stressors (FFRs) and receptors (participants’ mobility records from GPS data) using four proximities: 21 m, 100 m, 500 m, and ½ mile. Measures included count of proximal FFRs, time duration in proximity to ≥1 FFR, and time duration in proximity to FFRs weighted by FFR counts. Self-reported exposures (FFR visits) were excluded from these measures. Logistic regressions tested associations between one or more reported FFR visits and the three exposure measures at the four proximities. Time spent in proximity to an FFR was associated with significantly higher odds of FFR visits at all proximities. Weighted duration also showed positive associations with FFR visits at 21-m and 100-m proximities. FFR counts were not associated with FFR visits. Duration of exposure helps measure the relationship between the food environment, mobility patterns, and health behaviors. The stronger associations between exposure and outcome found at closer proximities (<100 m) need further research.

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