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Cited by 187Obesity, Physical Activity, DietNutrition, Health and Food BehaviorRegulation of Appetite and Obesity

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 47 of the 47 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Obesity and the built environment: changes in environmental cues cause energy imbalances

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Cohen, D A·2008·International Journal of Obesity
DOI 10.1038/ijo.2008.250PMC PMC3741102
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Abstract

The past 30 years have seen dramatic changes in the food and physical activity environments, both of which contribute to the changes in human behavior that could explain obesity. This paper reviews documented changes in the food environment, changes in the physical activity environment and the mechanisms through which people respond to these environments, often without conscious awareness or control. The most important environmental changes have been increases in food accessibility, food salience and decreases in the cost of food. The increases in food marketing and advertising create food cues that artificially stimulate people to feel hungry. The existence of a metabolic pathway that allows excess energy to be stored as fat suggests that people were designed to overeat. Many internal mechanisms favor neurophysiologic responses to food cues that result in overconsumption. External cues, such as food abundance, food variety and food novelty, cause people to override internal signals of satiety. Other factors, such as conditioning and priming, tie food to other desirable outcomes, and thus increase the frequency that hunger is stimulated by environmental cues. People's natural response to the environmental cues are colored by framing, and judgments are flawed and biased depending on how information is presented. People lack insight into how the food environment affects them, and subsequently are unable to change the factors that are responsible for excessive energy consumption. Understanding the causal pathway for overconsumption will be necessary to interrupt the mechanisms that lead to obesity.

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Metadata

Authors
Cohen, D. A.
Affiliations
RAND Corporation (US)
Corresponding author
Cohen, D A
ORCID
Cohen, D A
Venue
International Journal of Obesity
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2008-12
Volume
32
Issue
S7
Pages
S137-S142
ISSN
  • 0307-0565 (ISSN-L)
  • 1476-5497
DOI
10.1038/ijo.2008.250
PMC
PMC3741102
OpenAlex
W2080279374
Cited by
187
References
47
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 17 · 2019: 14 · 2018: 14 · 2017: 21 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 8 · 2014: 10 · 2013: 14 · 2012: 13
FWCI
1.26
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
Locations
  • International Journal of Obesity (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (R01AA013749)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet
  • Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Nutrition, Health and Food Behavior
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Endocrine and Autonomic Systems › Regulation of Appetite and Obesity
Keywords
obesity, built environment, food environment, physical activity environment, environmental cues, food access, food marketing, food advertising, hunger, satiety, energy imbalance, overeating, food cues, priming, framing effects, food costs, dietary diversity
MeSH terms
Advertising, Cues, Eating, Environment, Environment Design, Feeding Behavior, Food Supply, Humans, Obesity, Exercise

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