Low-Income Black and Hispanic Children's Neighborhood Food Environments and Weight Trajectories in Early Childhood.

BACKGROUND: High obesity rates among young black and Hispanic children place them at a higher risk for adult obesity and its comorbidities. Neighborhoods with predominately racial and ethnic minority residents have fewer healthful food options, which may contribute to obesity disparities. Few studies have assessed the relationship between neighborhood food environments and obesity in this population. METHODS: Electronic health records from 2 pediatric primary care clinics serving predominately low-income, black, and Hispanic children were used to create a cohort of 3724 2- to 5-year olds, encompassing 7256 visits from 2007 to 2012 (mean 1.9 visits per patient, range: 1-5 visits per child). Longitudinal regression was used to model the association of mean body mass index z-score (BMI-z) over time and 3 measures of the neighborhood food environment: healthful food availability, availability of stores accepting the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) benefits, and fast food availability. RESULTS: Compared to peers in neighborhoods with no or few stores accepting WIC, children in neighborhoods with many WIC stores had higher BMI-z at age 2 years (average difference of 0.272; 95% confidence interval: 0.041-0.503; P = .021). No relationship was found for healthful food or fast food availability. Although children in neighborhoods with low fast food availability did not have statistically significantly different BMI-z at age 2 as compared to children in areas with high fast food availability, they did have a statistically significantly higher change in average BMI-z over time (0.006 per month, 0.000-0.012, P = .024). CONCLUSIONS: Access to WIC stores was associated with lower obesity rates and more healthful average BMI-z over time and represents a potentially important neighborhood food environment characteristic influencing racial/ethnic disparities in childhood obesity among young black and Hispanic children. More studies are needed to assess what aspects of WIC stores may underlie the observed association.

Do Neighborhoods Matter? A Systematic Review of Modifiable Risk Factors for Obesity among Low Socio-Economic Status Black and Hispanic Children.

BACKGROUND: Childhood obesity increases the risk of obesity and harmful comorbidities later in life. It is influenced by characteristics of a child's neighborhood, particularly among underserved groups. Our objective was to systematically review the evidence relating neighborhood environment and obesity risk among urban, low socioeconomic status (SES) Black and Hispanic children. METHODS: We included studies published from 1993 through early 2017 from PubMed, SCOPUS, Web of Science, and Sociological Abstracts databases investigating relationships between empirically measured neighborhood characteristics and obesity risk factors in the populations of interest. Databases were last searched on May 8, 2018. Initial analysis took place during 2014 and was completed during 2017. We extracted data on study population, design, and associations between neighborhood characteristics and obesity risk factors. RESULTS: We identified 2011 unique studies; 24 were included. Few studies demonstrated consistent patterns of association. Most neighborhood characteristics were not examined across multiple studies. BMI may be related to living in a lower-income neighborhood or convenience store access. CONCLUSIONS: This review found that the body of evidence relating neighborhood exposures and obesity risk factors among urban, low SES Black (also commonly referred to in the literature as "non-Hispanic Black" or African American) and Hispanic children is limited. Given the high risk of obesity and cardiovascular disease among these populations throughout the life course, research on neighborhood determinants of obesity should specifically include these populations, ensuring adequate power and methodological rigor to detect differences.

Food in My Neighborhood: Exploring the Food Environment through Photovoice with Urban, African American Youth.

This study adapted Photovoice methodology for younger participants to better understand the perceptions of urban African American youth on their food environments and diets. Youth (n = 17, ages 10-13 years) photographed and described, using novel narrative-based activities, the myriad places they regularly acquired "junk food" from environments saturated with such but differed in their assessments of the availability and desirability of more nutritious alternative foods. Youth often discussed specific foods as well as peers and adults in their lives as either entirely "healthy" or "unhealthy." This concrete thinking should be considered when designing messaging strategies to improve diets in similar populations. Overall, Photovoice is an engaging and effective method to engage youth in efforts to improve food environments and diets.