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. 2020 Mar 19;18(1):43.
doi: 10.1186/s12916-020-01513-0.

Are environmental area characteristics at birth associated with overweight and obesity in school-aged children? Findings from the SLOPE (Studying Lifecourse Obesity PrEdictors) population-based cohort in the south of England

Sam Wilding  1 , Nida Ziauddeen  1 , Dianna Smith  2 , Paul Roderick  1 , Debbie Chase  3 , Nisreen A Alwan  4   5
Affiliations

Are environmental area characteristics at birth associated with overweight and obesity in school-aged children? Findings from the SLOPE (Studying Lifecourse Obesity PrEdictors) population-based cohort in the south of England

Sam Wilding et al. BMC Med. .

Abstract

Background: Geographical inequalities in overweight and obesity prevalence among children are well established in cross-sectional research. We aimed to examine how environmental area characteristics at birth are related to these outcomes in childhood.

Methods: Anonymised antenatal and birth data recorded by University Hospital Southampton linked to school-measured weight and height data for children within Southampton, UK, were utilised (14,084 children at ages 4-5 and 5637 at ages 10-11). Children's home address at birth was analysed at the Lower and Middle layer Super Output Area (LSOA/MSOA) levels (areas with average populations of 1500 and 7000, respectively). Area-level indices (walkability, relative density of unhealthy food outlets, spaces for social interaction), natural greenspace coverage, supermarket density and measures of air pollution (PM2.5, PM10 and NOx) were constructed using ArcGIS Network Analyst. Overweight/obesity was defined as a body mass index (BMI; kg/m2) greater than the 85th centile for sex and age. Population-average generalised estimating equations estimated the risk of being overweight/obese for children at both time points. Confounders included maternal BMI and smoking in early pregnancy, education, ethnicity and parity. We also examined associations for a subgroup of children who moved residence between birth and outcome measurement.

Results: There were mixed results between area characteristics at birth and overweight/obesity at later ages. MSOA relative density of unhealthy food outlets and PM10 were positively associated with overweight/obesity, but not among children who moved. LSOA greenspace coverage was negatively associated with the risk of being overweight/obese at ages 10-11 in all children (relative risk ratio 0.997, 95% confidence interval 0.995-0.999, p = 0.02) and among children who moved.

Conclusions: Local access to natural greenspaces at the time of birth was inversely associated with becoming overweight or obese by age 10-11, regardless of migration. Increased access/protection of greenspace may have a role in the early prevention of childhood obesity.

Keywords: Area indices; Childhood overweight; Greenspace; Obesity.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Sample selection diagram
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Directed acyclic graph illustrating the relationship between area characteristics and weight in childhood
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Greenspace coverage across LSOAs across Southampton and the surrounding county of Hampshire, 2006
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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