Abstract
The aim of this study is to investigate individual and joint associations of the home environment and the neighborhood built environment with adolescent dietary patterns and body mass index (BMI) z-score. Racially/ethnically and socioeconomically diverse adolescents (n=2682; 53.2% girls; mean age14.4 years) participating in the EAT 2010 (Eating and Activity in Teens) study completed height and weight measurements and surveys in Minnesota middle and high schools. Neighborhood variables were measured using Geographic Information Systems data. Multiple regressions of BMI z-score, fruit and vegetable intake, and fast food consumption were fit including home and neighborhood environmental variables as predictors and also including their interactions to test for effect modification. Supportive family environments (i.e., higher family functioning, frequent family meals, and parent modeling of healthful eating) were associated with higher adolescent fruit and vegetable intake, lower fast food consumption, and lower BMI z-score. Associations between the built environment and adolescent outcomes were fewer. Interaction results, although not all consistent, indicated that the relationship between a supportive family environment and adolescent fruit and vegetable intake and BMI was enhanced when the neighborhood was supportive of healthful behavior. Public health interventions that simultaneously improve both the home environment and the neighborhood environment of adolescents may have a greater impact on adolescent obesity prevention than interventions that address one of these environments alone.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 69-77 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | Health and Place |
Volume | 26 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Mar 2014 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Research is supported by grant number R01 HL093247 from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (PI: Dianne Neumark-Sztainer). Dr. Wall is supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health ( U01-HD061940 ). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the National Cancer Institute or the National Institutes of Health.
Keywords
- Adolescents
- Built environment
- Dietary intake
- Family functioning
- Obesity