Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2017 Jan;75(suppl 1):62-69.
doi: 10.1093/nutrit/nuw038.

Diabetes and obesity prevention: changing the food environment in low-income settings

Joel Gittelsohn  1 , Angela Trude  2
Affiliations
Review

Diabetes and obesity prevention: changing the food environment in low-income settings

Joel Gittelsohn et al. Nutr Rev. 2017 Jan.

Abstract

Innovative approaches are needed to impact obesity and other diet-related chronic diseases, including interventions at the environmental and policy levels. Such interventions are promising due to their wide reach. This article reports on 10 multilevel community trials that the present authors either led (n = 8) or played a substantial role in developing (n = 2) in low-income minority settings in the United States and other countries that test interventions to improve the food environment, support policy, and reduce the risk for developing obesity and other diet-related chronic diseases. All studies examined change from pre- to postintervention and included a comparison group. The results show the trials had consistent positive effects on consumer psychosocial factors, food purchasing, food preparation, and diet, and, in some instances, obesity. Recently, a multilevel, multicomponent intervention was implemented in the city of Baltimore that promises to impact obesity in children, and, potentially, diabetes and related chronic diseases among adults. Based on the results of these trials, this article offers a series of recommendations to contribute to the prevention of chronic disease in Mexico. Further work is needed to disseminate, expand, and sustain these initiatives at the city, state, and federal levels.

Keywords: chronic disease; diabetes; food policy; interventions; low-income; obesity; urban environment.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Seymour JD, Yaroch AL, Serdula M, et al. Impact of nutrition environmental interventions on point-of-purchase behavior in adults: a review. Prev Med (Baltim). 2004;39(Suppl 2):S108–S136. - PubMed
    1. Shin A, Surkan PJ, Coutinho AJ, et al. Impact of baltimore healthy eating zones: an environmental intervention to improve diet among african american youth. Heal Educ Behav. 2015;42(1 Suppl):97S–105S. - PubMed
    1. Economos CD, Folta SC, Goldberg J, et al. A community-based restaurant initiative to increase availability of healthy menu options in Somerville, Massachusetts: Shape Up Somerville. Prev Chronic Dis. 2009;6:A102. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Mead EL, Gittelsohn J, Roache C, et al. A community-based, environmental chronic disease prevention intervention to improve healthy eating psychosocial factors and behaviors in indigenous populations in the Canadian Arctic. Health Educ Behav. 2013;40:592–602. - PubMed
    1. Cohen JFW, Kraak VI, Choumenkovitch SF, et al. The CHANGE study: a healthy-lifestyles intervention to improve rural children’s diet quality. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2014;114:48–53. - PMC - PubMed