Obesity rates are increasing in the US, with no signs of slowing; obesity is increasing in all age groups, races and both sexes. It is higher among women of reproductive age and is growing rapidly among children. In order to curtail this complex, global epidemic, it is critical to identify modifiable environmental risk factors—such as food security status; proximity to supermarkets, fast food restaurants and recreational facilities; transportation; neighborhood safety and crime—that contribute to nutrition, health disparities, and obesity risk in these populations. Postpartum women are of particular interest because of changes occurring in weight and growth that are immediately influenced by their environments. The proposed research project will assess neighborhood and socio-environmental influences on nutrition and obesity by collecting a broad range of data on participants’ communities an ongoing study of postpartum weight retention.
Socio-environmental data will be collected and linked to a vast array of detailed individual-level socio-demographic, dietary and behavioral data existing on this cohort. The project’s specific aims are: 1) To develop an enhanced framework for this analysis based on formal ethnographic study of the food environment; 2) Using this model, to assess the effect of environmental factors on dietary intake, food security status, and postpartum weight retention; 3) To assess the generalizability of the postpartum study sample by comparing them to women from a representative sample; and 4) To develop a spatially explicit, neighborhood food environment index related to obesity. This study involves data collection and analysis of compositional (e.g., census), contextual (e.g., food resources), and spatially derived data (e.g., distance to food resource) on health outcomes under the supervision of established investigators. Accomplishing the aims of this proposal will expand current understanding of the food environment and will inform further study of alternative strategies for measurement and analysis of environmental influences on health. The paramount goal of this career award is to furnish the PI with supervised research experience and didactic training in sociology, economics, hierarchical and spatial analysis; these experiences will lead to R01 submission and establishment of the PI as an independent investigator.
PI: Barbara Laraia
Funding: NIH/NICHD
Specific Aims:
Specific Aim 1: To conduct an ethnographic study of the food environment to identify environmental influences on shopping behaviors, dietary intake, meal patterns and physical activity among postpartum women.
Specific Aim 2: To assess the effect of environmental factors on dietary intake, household food security status and weight retention for postpartum women.
Specific Aim 3: To develop an index or scale to measure neighborhood food environment as it relates to increased risk of obesity and overweight.
Publications:
Laraia BA, Siega-Riz AM, Dole N, London E. Pregravid BMI is associated with dietary restraint and psychosocial factors during pregnancy. Obesity, (in press).
Laraia BA, Bodnar LM, Siega-Riz AM. Pregravid BMI is negatively associated with diet quality during pregnancy. Public Health Nutrition, 2007;10(9):920-926.
Laraia BA, Messer L, Evenson K, Kaufman JS. Neighborhood factors associated with health behaviors during pregnancy. Journal of Urban Health, 2007;84(6):793-806.
Laraia BA, Siega-Riz AM, Gundersen C, Dole N. Psychosocial factors and socioeconomic indicators are associated with household food insecurity among pregnant women. Journal of Nutrition 2006;136:177-182.
Laraia BA, Messer L, Kaufman JS, Dole N, Caughy MO, O’Campo PO, Savitz DA. Direct observation of neighborhood attributes in an urban area of the US south: Characterizing the social context of pregnancy. International Journal of Health Geographics 2006;5:11.
Siega-Riz AM, Laraia BA. The implications of maternal overweight and obesity on the course of pregnancy and birth outcomes: How can this problem be dealt with from a public health perspective? Maternal and Child Health Journal 2006;10 Suppl 7:153-156.
Messer LC, Kaufman JS, Dole N, Herring A, Laraia BA. Violent crime exposure classification and adverse birth outcomes: a geographically-defined cohort study. International Journal of Health Geographics 2006;17;5:22.
Messer L, Kaufman JS, Dole N, Savitz DA, Laraia BA. Neighborhood crime, deprivation and preterm birth. Annals of Epidemiology 2006;16(6):455-462.
Laraia BA, Siega-Riz AM, Kaufman JS, Jones A. Proximity of supermarkets is positively associated with diet quality index for pregnancy (DQI-P). Preventive Medicine 2004;39(5):869-875.