The last several years have witnessed growing interest in the potential contribution of the food environment to the epidemic increase in obesity rates in the United States. Early empirical evidence suggests that there is significant variation across geographic areas in the availability of different kinds of foods. More economically and socially disadvantaged communities have poorer food environments, with healthy food less available and unhealthy food more available in those communities. There appears to be growing evidence that characteristics of the food environment are associated with dietary behaviors and outcomes, but there are still many unanswered questions in this area. In large part we don't yet know exactly which characteristics of the food environment are most influential, how influential they are, in which geospatial environments, and for which populations. Yet public policy is proceeding apace in this area, with calorie labeling, restrictive fast food zoning, financial incentives for supermarkets in underserved neighborhoods, healthy bodega initiatives, and other regulatory levers already implemented in many communities. Further research in this area is thus required. We propose to combine New York City Department of Education FITNESSGRAM data, which includes BMI, school and residential locations, for all New York City public school children from 2005 onward with detailed data on the food environment surrounding each child's home and school. Then, we will use a variety of enhanced methodological techniques to estimate the true relationship between food environment and obesity. The methodological enhancements we utilize over past work are: 1) a large, detailed dataset, including data on over 1 million NYC public school children. 2) Examining longitudinally the same children over time, examining what happens to BMI as healthy and less healthy food stores open and close. (Child fixed effects). 3) Examining fine-grained differences in food resources, even within the same Census tract. For example, the relative influence of living within 500 feet, or two city blocks, versus farther than that. (Census tract fixed effects) ? Data on both the home and school food environment, modeled together. With these changes, we will be able to provide unbiased estimates on the influence of the food environmental on child BMI, substantially answering key health and policy-related questions.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01DK097347-03
Application #
8925063
Study Section
Community Influences on Health Behavior (CIHB)
Program Officer
Unalp-Arida, Aynur
Project Start
2013-09-20
Project End
2017-08-31
Budget Start
2015-09-01
Budget End
2016-08-31
Support Year
3
Fiscal Year
2015
Total Cost
$678,505
Indirect Cost
$264,184
Name
New York University
Department
Internal Medicine/Medicine
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
121911077
City
New York
State
NY
Country
United States
Zip Code
10016
Lee, David C; Gallagher, Mary Pat; Gopalan, Anjali et al. (2018) Identifying Geographic Disparities in Diabetes Prevalence Among Adults and Children Using Emergency Claims Data. J Endocr Soc 2:460-470
Lucan, Sean C; Maroko, Andrew R; Patel, Achint N et al. (2018) Change in an Urban Food Environment: Storefront Sources of Food/Drink Increasing Over Time and Not Limited to Food Stores and Restaurants. J Acad Nutr Diet 118:2128-2134
Tamura, Kosuke; Duncan, Dustin T; Athens, Jessica et al. (2018) Do sedentary behavior and physical activity spatially cluster? Analysis of a population-based sample of Boston adolescents. GeoJournal 83:775-782
Tamura, Kosuke; Elbel, Brian; Chaix, Basile et al. (2017) Residential and GPS-Defined Activity Space Neighborhood Noise Complaints, Body Mass Index and Blood Pressure Among Low-Income Housing Residents in New York City. J Community Health 42:974-982
Lee, David C; Yi, Stella S; Fong, Hiu-Fai et al. (2017) Identifying Local Hot Spots of Pediatric Chronic Diseases Using Emergency Department Surveillance. Acad Pediatr 17:267-274
Elbel, Brian; Corcoran, Sean P; Schwartz, Amy Ellen (2016) Neighborhoods, Schools and Obesity: The Potential for Place-Based Approaches to Reduce Childhood Obesity. PLoS One 11:e0157479
Athens, Jessica K; Duncan, Dustin T; Elbel, Brian (2016) Proximity to Fast-Food Outlets and Supermarkets as Predictors of Fast-Food Dining Frequency. J Acad Nutr Diet 116:1266-75
Kiszko, Kamila; Cantor, Jonathan; Abrams, Courtney et al. (2015) Corner Store Purchases in a Low-Income Urban Community in NYC. J Community Health 40:1084-90