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
. 2019 May 10;18(1):10.
doi: 10.1186/s12942-019-0174-z.

Hilly neighborhoods are associated with increased risk of weight gain among older adults in rural Japan: a 3-years follow-up study

Kenta Okuyama  1 , Takafumi Abe  2 , Tsuyoshi Hamano  3 , Miwako Takeda  2 , Kristina Sundquist  4 , Jan Sundquist  4 , Toru Nabika  5
Affiliations

Hilly neighborhoods are associated with increased risk of weight gain among older adults in rural Japan: a 3-years follow-up study

Kenta Okuyama et al. Int J Health Geogr. .

Abstract

Background: Neighborhood environments have been regularly associated with the weight status. Although the evidence is mostly limited to adults residing in western urban settings, the weight status of older adults living in rural areas is also assumed to be significantly affected by their neighborhood environments. This study aimed to identify environmental attributes specific to rural areas that could affect the risk of longitudinal weight gain among older adults (≥ 65 years) in Japan.

Methods: We examined five environmental attributes, i.e., land slope, public transportation accessibility, residential density, intersection density, and the availability of parks and recreational centers, measured by the geographic information system. Our analysis was based on 714 subjects participated in Shimane Community-based Healthcare Research and Education study in 2012 and 2015. Multinomial logistic regression model was conducted to examine the association between each neighborhood environmental attribute and weight change status (gain, loss and unchanged).

Results: We observed a significant increase in the risk of weight gain as the steepness of the neighborhood land slope increased. There was no significant association between other environmental attributes and risk of weight gain as well as weight loss among older adults.

Conclusion: Living in hilly neighborhoods was associated with increased risk of weight gain among rural Japanese older adults. Future research should consider region-specific environmental attributes when investigating their effect on older adults' weight status.

Keywords: Neighborhood; Older adults; Rural; Slope; Weight change.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

The study protocol and procedure used to secure the informed consent of the participants were approved by the Ethics Committee of Shimane University #2888.

Consent for publication

The authors provide full consent for publishing the manuscript.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Predicted probabilities of weight change by land slope in 400 m network buffer
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Predicted probabilities of weight change by land slope in 800 m network buffer
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Cheng FW, Gao X, Jensen GL. Weight change and all-cause mortality in older adults: a meta-analysis. J Nutr Gerontol Geriatr. 2015;34(4):343–368. doi: 10.1080/21551197.2015.1090362. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Nanri A, Mizoue T, Takahashi Y, Noda M, Inoue M, Tsugane S. Weight change and all-cause, cancer and cardiovascular disease mortality in Japanese men and women: the Japan Public Health Center-Based Prospective Study. Int J Obes. 2010;34(2):348. doi: 10.1038/ijo.2009.234. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Park SY, Wilkens LR, Maskarinec G, Haiman CA, Kolonel LN, Marchand LL. Weight change in older adults and mortality: the Multiethnic Cohort Study. Int J Obes. 2018;42(2):205. doi: 10.1038/ijo.2017.188. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Lim SS, Vos T, Flaxman AD, Danaei G, Shibuya K, Adair-Rohani H, et al. A comparative risk assessment of burden of disease and injury attributable to 67 risk factors and risk factor clusters in 21 regions, 1990–2010: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010. The Lancet. 2012;380(9859):2224–2260. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(12)61766-8. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Wee CC, Phillips RS, Legedza AT, Davis RB, Soukup JR, Colditz GA, Hamel MB. Health care expenditures associated with overweight and obesity among US adults: importance of age and race. Am J Public Health. 2005;95(1):159–165. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2003.027946. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources