title: School Context Matters: The Impacts of Concentrated Poverty and Racial Segregation on Childhood Obesity.
abstract: Schools are important sites for interventions to prevent childhood obesity. This study examines how variables measuring the socioeconomic and racial composition of schools and counties affect the likelihood of obesity among third to fifth grade children.
  
  
  
  Body mass index data were collected from third to fifth grade public school students by teachers from 317 urban and rural North Carolina schools in 38 counties. Multilevel models are used to examine county-, school-, and individual-level effects.
  
  
  
  Low concentrations of poverty at the school level are associated with lower odds of obesity. Schools in rural counties had significantly higher rates of obesity, net the other variables in the model. Students in minority-segregated schools had higher rates of obesity than those in more racially diverse schools, but the effect was not statistically significant once school-level poverty was controlled.
  
  
  
  Place-based inequalities are important determinants of health inequalities. The results of this study show that school-level variables related to poverty are important for understanding and confronting childhood obesity.
authors.affiliation: Center for Child and Family Policy, Duke University, 2024 W, Main Street, Bay C # 202, Durham, NC 27705-4667.
authors.forename: Joy Rayanne
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-9399-9145
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Piontak
authors.affiliation: Department of Youth, Family, and Community Sciences, North Carolina State University, 512 Brickhaven Drive 210Q, Campus Box 7606, Raleigh, NC 27695-7606.
authors.forename: Michael D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Schulman
mesh_terms: D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D063105:Food Assistance / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005523:Food Supply; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009657:North Carolina / Q000453:epidemiology; D063766:Pediatric Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology; D011203:Poverty / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D044469:Racial Groups / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012111:Residence Characteristics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012307:Risk Factors; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012574:Schools / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000072699:Social Segregation; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
keywords: childhood obesity; place-based inequality; racial segregation; school racial composition; school socioeconomic status