An ecological study of the relationship between social and environmental determinants of obesity.
There is growing concern with the increasing prevalence of obesity in industrialised countries, a trend that is more apparent in the poor than in the rich. In an ecological study, the relationship between an area measure of socioeconomic status (SES) and the density of fast-food outlets was examined as one possible explanation for the phenomenon. It was found that there was a dose-response between SES and the density of fast-food outlets, with people living in areas from the poorest SES category having 2.5 times the exposure to outlets than people in the wealthiest category. The findings are discussed.
Reidpath
Daniel D
DD
School of Health Sciences, Deakin University, 221 Burwood Hwy, VIC 3125, Australia. reidpath@deakin.edu.au
Burns
Cate
C
Garrard
Jan
J
Mahoney
Mary
M
Townsend
Mardie
M
D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D003132:Commerce; D004463:Ecology; D019649:Food Industry / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D009765:Obesity / Q000191:economics / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology; D011203:Poverty; D015995:Prevalence; D012923:Social Class; D012931:Social Environment