title: Obesogenic environmental influences on young adults: evidence from college dormitory assignments.
abstract: This study utilizes a natural experiment-conditionally random dormitory assignments of first-year US college students-to investigate the influence of obesogenic environmental factors in explaining changes in weight and exercise behavior during the 2009-2010 academic year. The design addresses potential selection biases resulting from the likelihood that individuals sort into built environments that match their preferences for exercise and healthy eating. We find some evidence that the food environment, specifically access to campus dining, significantly affected the weight of female students in our study. Females assigned to dormitories where the nearest campus dining hall was closed on the weekends gained about 1lb less over the course of the year than females assigned to dormitories near dining halls that were open 7 days a week. We also find some evidence that female who lived in close proximity to a grocery store gained less weight over the course of the year. Finally, females who lived closer to campus gym reported more frequent exercise over the course of the year. We do not find significant effects of the built environment on weight changes of males in our sample, but we are cautious to draw strong conclusions from this because the male weight change in our sample was quite small.
authors.affiliation: Abt Associates Inc., US Health, 4550 Montgomery Avenue, Bethesda, MD 20814, United States. Electronic address: Kandice_kapinos@abtassoc.com.
authors.forename: Kandice A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Kapinos
authors.affiliation: Marquette University, College of Business and Graduate School of Management, Department of Economics, 606 N. 13th Street, Milwaukee, WI 53201, United States. Electronic address: olga.yakusheva@marquette.edu.
authors.forename: Olga
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Yakusheva
authors.affiliation: University of Michigan, School of Public Health, Health Management and Policy Department, 1415 Washington Heights, M3517 SPH II, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, United States. Electronic address: daneis@umich.edu.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Eisenberg
mesh_terms: D004779:Environment Design; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D005523:Food Supply; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000209:etiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013334:Students / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014481:United States; D014495:Universities; D015430:Weight Gain; D015431:Weight Loss; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Built environment effects; Obesity; Weight gain