Physical environmental correlates of childhood obesity: a systematic review
Open accessAbstract
Summary: Increasing rates of childhood obesity in the USA and other Western countries are a cause for serious public health concern. Neighborhood and community environments are thought to play a contributing role in the development of obesity among youth, but it is not well understood which types of physical environmental characteristics have the most potential to influence obesity outcomes. This paper reports the results of a systematic review of quantitative research examining built and biophysical environmental variables associated with obesity in children and adolescents through physical activity. Literature searches in PubMed, PsychInfo and Geobase were conducted. Fifteen quantitative studies met the inclusion criteria for this systematic review. The majority of studies were cross‐sectional and published after 2005. Overall, few consistent findings emerged. For children, associations between physical environmental variables and obesity differed by gender, age, socioeconomic status, population density and whether reports were made by the parent or child. Access to equipment and facilities, neighborhood pattern (e.g. rural, exurban, suburban) and urban sprawl were associated with obesity outcomes in adolescents. For most environmental variables considered, strong empirical evidence is not yet available. Conceptual gaps, methodological limitations and future research directions are discussed.
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Across systematic reviews, 5 of 8 studies found a positive relation between overall land-use mix and children's active commuting.
“Across all these systematic reviews, 5 of 6 studies found a positive relation between overall land-use mix and children’s physical activity; in 5 of 8 studies, between overall land-use mix and children’s active commuting; and in 3 of 3 studies, between distance from home to school and children’s active commuting.”
From Population Approaches to Improve Diet, Physical Activity, and Smoking Habits: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association (2012) · cites this paper as [350]
Across systematic reviews, 3 of 3 studies found a positive relation between distance from home to school and children's active commuting.
“Across all these systematic reviews, 5 of 6 studies found a positive relation between overall land-use mix and children’s physical activity; in 5 of 8 studies, between overall land-use mix and children’s active commuting; and in 3 of 3 studies, between distance from home to school and children’s active commuting.”
From Population Approaches to Improve Diet, Physical Activity, and Smoking Habits: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association (2012) · cites this paper as [350]
Across systematic reviews, 5 of 6 studies found a positive relation between overall land-use mix and children's physical activity.
“Across all these systematic reviews, 5 of 6 studies found a positive relation between overall land-use mix and children’s physical activity; in 5 of 8 studies, between overall land-use mix and children’s active commuting; and in 3 of 3 studies, between distance from home to school and children’s active commuting.”
From Population Approaches to Improve Diet, Physical Activity, and Smoking Habits: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association (2012) · cites this paper as [350]
None of the 3 unique studies of land-use mix and childhood adiposity observed significant relations between land-use mix and BMI or overweight/obesity in children.
“None observed significant relations between land-use mix and BMI or overweight/obesity in children.”
From Population Approaches to Improve Diet, Physical Activity, and Smoking Habits: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association (2012) · cites this paper as [350]
After adjustment for confounders, magnitudes of relationships between land-use mix and children's physical activity or active commuting often remained quite large, especially for active commuting.
“After adjustment for confounders, magnitudes of these relationships often remained quite large (eg, OR 2- to 3-fold or higher associations), especially for active commuting.”
From Population Approaches to Improve Diet, Physical Activity, and Smoking Habits: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association (2012) · cites this paper as [350]
Few studies evaluated walkability and adiposity in either children or adults, with a minority of these observing positive findings.
“Few studies evaluated walkability and adiposity in either children or adults, with a minority of these observing positive findings.”
From Population Approaches to Improve Diet, Physical Activity, and Smoking Habits: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association (2012) · cites this paper as [350]
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- Authors
- Dunton, G. F., Kaplan, J., Wolch, J., Jerrett, M., & Reynolds, K. D.
- Affiliations
- University of Southern California (US)
- University of California, Berkeley (US)
- Corresponding author
- Dunton, G. F.
- Venue
- Obesity Reviews
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2009-06-25
- Volume
- 10
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 393-402
- ISSN
- 1467-7881 (ISSN-L)
- 1467-789X
- PMC
- PMC3833101
- OpenAlex
- W1981338489
- Cited by
- 318
- References
- 55
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 16 · 2020: 17 · 2019: 15 · 2018: 21 · 2017: 13 · 2016: 22 · 2015: 34 · 2014: 34 · 2013: 26 · 2012: 31
- FWCI
- 3.66
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Obesity Reviews (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- University of Southern California
- National Cancer Institute (U54CA116848)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet
- Social Sciences › Transportation › Urban Transport and Accessibility
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Urban Green Space and Health
- Keywords
- childhood obesity, adolescent obesity, built environment, biophysical environment, physical activity, neighborhood environment, urban sprawl, access to facilities, socioeconomic status, population density, gender differences
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Child, Child, Preschool, Environment, Female, Health Policy, Humans, Male, Obesity, Social Environment, Exercise, Prevalence
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