Urban sprawl and risk for being overweight or obese

Am J Public Health. 2004 Sep;94(9):1574-9. doi: 10.2105/ajph.94.9.1574.

Abstract

Objectives: I examined the association between urban sprawl and the risk for being overweight or obese among US adults.

Methods: A measure of urban sprawl in metropolitan areas was derived from the 2000 US Census; individual-level data were obtained from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. I used multilevel analysis to assess the association between urban sprawl and obesity.

Results: After I controlled for gender, age, race/ethnicity, income, and education, for each 1-point rise in the urban sprawl index (0-100 scale), the risk for being overweight increased by 0.2% and the risk for being obese increased by 0.5%.

Conclusions: The current obesity epidemic has many causes, but there is an association between urban sprawl and obesity.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System
  • City Planning*
  • Environment Design
  • Ethnicity / statistics & numerical data
  • Female
  • Health Behavior*
  • Humans
  • Logistic Models
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Obesity / epidemiology*
  • Obesity / etiology
  • Risk Factors
  • Sex Distribution
  • United States / epidemiology
  • Urban Health / statistics & numerical data
  • Urban Population / statistics & numerical data*