The long-term goals of Dr. Zenk's research are in urban populations: (1) through epidemiologic research, to reveal social and environmental determinants of racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in obesity and related health behaviors and (2) through multilevel interventions that use a community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach and combine individual and environmental strategies for improving dietary intakes and increasing physical activity, to reduce obesity. Training and mentored research experiences in four areas are critical to Dr. Zenk becoming an independent investigator: nutritional epidemiology, physical activity and fitness, spatial behaviors and exposures, and advanced data analysis. In the proposed research study, Dr. Zenk will apply newly learned measurement and data analytic skills, acquired through the training component, in testing an explanatory model for obesity/obesity risk. The study will be conducted in close collaboration with a funded CBPR partnership in Detroit, Michigan. Specifically, in a sample of African- American and White adults, Dr. Zenk will examine relationships among (a) individual sociodemographic indicators [race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status (SES)], (b) environmental resources/risks (walkability, aesthetics, spatial accessibility of exercise facilities and food outlets) in activity spaces (geographic areas outside their personal residential neighborhoods in which individuals engage in activities), (c) health behaviors (dietary intake, physical activity), and (d) body weight status (e.g., body mass index, waist circumference). Focus in prior studies on personal residential neighborhoods (neighborhoods where people live) alone has likely led to underestimations of the role that the environment plays in health behaviors and body weight status. Capturing aspects of activity-space environments could provide new insights into environmental contributions to racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in health behaviors and body weight status. This Award is important due to large and persistent disparities by race/ethnicity (African-Americans/Whites) and SES in a range of chronic diseases, including diabetes, heart disease, and certain cancers, for which obesity are a major risk factor. Understanding contributions of the broader environment to which individuals are exposed during daily activities to obesity is critical to informing multilevel interventions and policies that will reduce and eventually eliminate disparities in obesity and related diseases.
