Price, availability, and youth obesity: evidence from Bridging the Gap.
After a decade of analyzing environmental influences on substance use and its consequences among youth in the United States, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Bridging the Gap program has begun studying the effect of environmental factors on youth physical activity, diet, and weight outcomes. Much of this research has focused on access to food, as reflected by availability and price. Program researchers have documented disparities in access to healthy foods and opportunities for physical activity; healthier food outlets and opportunities for physical activity are relatively less available in communities with lower income and larger proportions of racial/ethnic minority populations. They also have found that healthier environments are associated with more fruit and vegetable consumption, more physical activity, lower body mass index, and reduced likelihood of obesity among youth.
Chaloupka
Frank J
FJ
Department of Economics and Institute for Health Research and Policy, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1747 West Roosevelt Blvd, Room 558, Chicago, IL 60608, USA. fjc@uic.edu
Powell
Lisa M
LM
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D015992:Body Mass Index; D015444:Exercise; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005502:Food / Q000191:economics*; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D007899:Leisure Activities; D009765:Obesity; D012931:Social Environment; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States