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INFLUENCE OF PERCEIVED NEIGHBORHOOD FOOD AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY ENVIRONMENTS ON CHILD WEIGHT TRAJECTORY

Abstract

Bryn Haden, Alexis Hartranft, Kavya Iyer, Elizabeth Ackley. Roanoke College, Salem, VA.

BACKGROUND: To better understand the influence of social determinants on health outcomes and behaviors, a recent call to action by the National Institutes of Health described a need to explore the utility of perceived neighborhood environments as a predictor of health outcomes. PURPOSE: This study expands upon emergent research exploring the role of neighborhood environments on children’s weight trajectories as a function of perceived access to neighborhood food and physical activity resources. METHODS: Data from the 2017 (n = 1,003) and 2019 (n = 765) Roanoke Valley Community Healthy Living Index was used to explore the relationship between perceived neighborhood food and physical activity environment (low access; high access) and weight trajectory in elementary school-aged youth (healthy weight trajectory = maintain or return to healthy BMI-for-age; unhealthy weight trajectory = regress to or persist at unhealthy BMI-for-age) using Chi Square analysis. RESULTS: Complete data was obtained from 70 children (age = 7.3 + 1.8 years); 80% of children perceived they live in a high access neighborhood and 60% displayed a healthy weight trajectory. No relationship was observed between perceived neighborhood environment and weight trajectory in youth, X2(1) = .004, p = 0.95. CONCLUSION: Perceptions of the neighborhood environment do not appear to influence weight trajectory in elementary school-aged youth. Additional studies are needed to explore this relationship in larger, more diverse samples.

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