Conclusion:
These findings have important implications for future research, practice, and policy on childhood obesity, highlighting the need to consider neighborhood factors in youths’ most proximal residential environments.
“Future efforts to reduce childhood obesity must address not only individual-level behaviors and family-level practices, but also consider design and planning characteristics of environments that may promote or threaten healthy development,” the authors write.
About the Study:
Data were from participants in the Cohort Study of Young Girls’ Nutrition, Environment, and Transitions (CYGNET Study) in the San Francisco Bay Area at pre-adolescence (age 8 through 10) and four years later.