Weight gain in mid-childhood and its relationship with the fast food environment

Pearce, Matthew; Bray, Issy; Horswell, Michael

Abstract

© The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Faculty of Public Health. All rights reserved. Background Childhood obesity is a serious public health issue. Understanding environmental factors and their contribution to weight gain is important if interventions are to be effective. Aims The purpose of this research was to assess the relationship between weight gain in children and accessibility of fast-food outlets. Methods A longitudinal sample of 1577 children was created using two time points from the National Child Measurement Programme in South Gloucestershire (2006/7 and 2012/13). A spatial analysis was conducted using a weighted accessibility score on the number of fast-food outlets within a 1-km network radius of each child's residence to quantify access to fast food. Results The mean accessibility score for all children was 0.73 (standard deviation: 1.14). Fast-food outlets were more prevalent in areas of deprivation. A moderate association was found between deprivation score and accessibilty score (r = 0.4, P < 0.01). Children who had greater access to fast-food outlets were more likely (odds ratio = 1.89, P = 0.04) to gain significant weight (>50 percentile points) compared to children who had no access to fast-food outlets. Conclusions This paper supports previous research that fast-food outlets are more prevalent in areas of deprivation and presents new evidence on fast-food outlets as a potential contributor towards weight gain in mid-childhood.

Citation

Pearce, M., Bray, I., & Horswell, M. (2018). Weight gain in mid-childhood and its relationship with the fast food environment. Journal of Public Health, 40(2), 237-244. https://doi.org/10.1093/pubmed/fdx108

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 11, 2017
• Online Publication Date: Sep 10, 2017
• Publication Date: Jun 1, 2018
• Deposit Date: Nov 10, 2017
• Journal: Journal of Public Health (United Kingdom)
• Print ISSN: 1741-3842
• Electronic ISSN: 1741-3850
• Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 40
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 237-244
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/pubmed/fdx108
• Keywords: childhood obesity, fast food, weight gain, national child measurement programme, public health
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/882220
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/pubmed/fdx108
• Additional Information: Additional Information : This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced version of an article accepted for publication in Journal of Public Health following peer review. The version of record [Pearce, M., Bray, I. and Horswell, M. (2017) Weight change in mid-childhood and its relationship with the fast food environment. Journal of Public Health, 40 (2). pp. 237-244. ISSN 1741-3842 ] is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/pubmed/fdx108