title: The influence of rural home and neighborhood environments on healthy eating, physical activity, and weight.
abstract: Despite the recognition that environments play a role in shaping physical activity and healthy eating behaviors, relatively little research has focused on rural homes and neighborhoods as important settings for obesity prevention. This study, conducted through community-based participatory research, used a social ecological model to examine how home and neighborhood food and physical activity environments were associated with weight status among rural-dwelling adults. Data were from a cross-sectional survey of White and African American adults (n = 513) aged 40-70 years living in rural southwest Georgia. Data were analyzed using measured variable path analysis, a form of structural equation modeling. The results support a social ecological approach to obesity prevention. Physical activity had a direct effect on BMI; self-efficacy, family support for physical activity, and household inventory of physical activity equipment also had direct effects on physical activity. Neighborhood walkability had an indirect effect on physical activity through self-efficacy and family social support. Although neither fruit and vegetable intake nor fat intake had direct effects on BMI, self-efficacy and household food inventories had direct effects on dietary behavior. Perceived access to healthy foods in the neighborhood had an indirect effect on healthy eating and a direct effect on weight; neighborhood cohesion had an indirect effect on healthy eating through self-efficacy. Overall, individual factors and home environments tended to exhibit direct effects on behavior, and neighborhood variables more often exhibited an indirect effect.
authors: Department of Behavioral Sciences and Health Education, Emory Prevention Research Center, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, 1518 Clifton Road NE, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA, mkegler@emory.edu.
authors: Michelle C
authors: MC
authors: Kegler
authors: Deanne W
authors: DW
authors: Swan
authors: Iris
authors: I
authors: Alcantara
authors: Lynne
authors: L
authors: Feldman
authors: Karen
authors: K
authors: Glanz
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001835:Body Weight; D004435:Eating; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009043:Motor Activity; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012424:Rural Population