The effects of food environment on obesity in children: a systematic review
Open accessAbstract
Childhood obesity is an epidemic connected with poor eating. According to the United States Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service (USDA-ERS), food deserts are geographical locations in which residents have restricted or nonexistent access to healthful and quality food. Restricted access to healthy food is commonly associated with poor nutrition-related health outcomes, including obesity. This review aims to highlight the relationship between residing in a food desert or a similar environment on body mass index (BMI) in school-aged children in North America, predominantly in the Midwest region of the United States and Mexico. In this study, 17 articles were included from PubMed/Medline, Google Scholar, and Crossref. Most of these studies showed no association between the food environment and increased BMI. This discrepancy emphasizes the need for further research; the lack of access to healthful foods in food deserts is an issue that deserves additional attention.
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There are many psychosocial influences on children's physical activity and diets, including access to green spaces, stress, and food environments.
“There are many psychosocial influences on children’s physical activity and diets, including access to green spaces,263 stress,264 and food environments.265”
From Digital Ecosystems, Children, and Adolescents: Technical Report (2026) · cites this paper as [265]
The Results Summary (section 3.18) discusses children’s food choices in different food environments, supporting the dietary part of the claim. The Conclusions (section 5) say physical activity should be evaluated and controlled in BMI studies, but do not establish that food environments influence children’s physical activity. (LLM, conf=0.78)
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Cited by
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Digital Ecosystems, Children, and Adolescents: Technical Report
Munzer, T., Milkovich, L. M., Madigan, S., Tomopoulos, S., Parga-Belinkie, J., Ajumobi, T., Cross, C., Gerwin, R., Council on Communications and Media, Radesky, J., et al. (2026) · Pediatrics · doi:10.1542/peds.2025-075321 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
- Authors
- Key, J., Burnett, D., Babu, J., & Geetha, T.
- Affiliations
- Auburn University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Burnett, Donna
- Geetha, Thangiah
- Venue
- Children
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2023-01-03
- Volume
- 10
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 98
- ISSN
- 2227-9067 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC9857183
- OpenAlex
- W4313519481
- Cited by
- 20
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 3
- FWCI
- 0.99
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Children (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- Alabama Agricultural Experimental Station (AAES)
- Hatch/Multistate Funding Program
- AAES Award for Interdisciplinary Research (AAES-AIR)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Food Security and Health in Diverse Populations
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Nutrition, Health and Food Behavior
- Keywords
- childhood obesity, food environment, food deserts, body mass index, healthy food access, school-aged children, Midwestern United States, Mexico
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