Residential neighborhood, geographic work environment, and work economic sector: associations with body fat measured by bioelectrical impedance in the RECORD Study.
OBJECTIVE
Studies of associations between geographic environment and obesity have mostly examined body mass index and focused on residential neighborhoods. We investigated associations between residential neighborhoods, geographic work environments, and work economic sectors and the fat mass index (FMI) and percentage of fat mass (%FM).


METHODS
Data on 4331 participants from the French RECORD Study geolocated at their residence and workplace were analyzed. Body composition was assessed by bioelectrical impedance analyzers. Multilevel linear regression was used to investigate the determinants of FMI and %FM.


RESULTS
After adjustment, among men, the FMI and %FM increased independently with decreasing density of population and educational level in the residential neighborhood. Among women, the residential educational level was related to the FMI and %FM. Among men, a higher FMI and %FM were observed among participants working in the construction and transportation/communication sectors than in the education sector. For women, the FMI was higher among participants working in the public administration and health/social work sectors than in the transport/communication sector. A long home-work distance was associated with a higher FMI among women. There was evidence that body mass index cannot fully capture work economic sector effects on fat mass.


CONCLUSIONS
Public health interventions to reduce social/territorial disparities in obesity should also consider the different contexts to which the participants belong, such as residential environments and work economic sectors.
Inserm, U707, Research Unit in Epidemiology, Information Systems, and Modeling, Paris, France; Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris6, Faculty of Medicine, UMR-S 707, Paris, France. Electronic address: lewin@u707.jussieu.fr.
Antoine
A
Lewin
Centre d'Investigations Préventives et Cliniques, Paris, France.
Bruno
B
Pannier
Inserm, U707, Research Unit in Epidemiology, Information Systems, and Modeling, Paris, France; Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris6, Faculty of Medicine, UMR-S 707, Paris, France.
Julie
J
Méline
Inserm, U707, Research Unit in Epidemiology, Information Systems, and Modeling, Paris, France; Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris6, Faculty of Medicine, UMR-S 707, Paris, France.
Noëlla
N
Karusisi
Centre d'Investigations Préventives et Cliniques, Paris, France.
Frédérique
F
Thomas
Inserm, U707, Research Unit in Epidemiology, Information Systems, and Modeling, Paris, France; Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris6, Faculty of Medicine, UMR-S 707, Paris, France.
Basile
B
Chaix
D000273:Adipose Tissue; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001823:Body Composition; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D017097:Electric Impedance; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012931:Social Environment; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D017132:Workplace
Body composition; Epidemiology; Residence neighborhood; Work economic sector; Workplace neighborhood