title: The association between social cohesion in the neighborhood and body mass index (BMI): An examination of gendered differences among urban-dwelling Canadians.
abstract: Overweight and obesity are major global public health concerns. Obesity is multifactorial in origin and influenced by genetics, psychosocial factors, eating and physical activity behaviors, as well as the environment. The objective of this study is to examine the impact of social cohesion on gender differences in body mass index (BMI) for urban-dwelling Canadians. Cross-sectional data were used from the Neighborhood Effects on Health and Well-being Study (NEHW) in Toronto, Canada (n=2300). Our main outcome, BMI, was calculated from self-reported height and weight (weight (kg)/height (m)2). Using multi-level logistic regression models, we identified a significant interaction between social cohesion and gender on being overweight/obese. Women with higher social cohesion had slightly lower odds of being overweight/obese (OR: 0.96, 95%CI: 0.94 to 0.99) compared to men, after adjusting for other sociodemographic factors (e.g., age, income, education), and neighborhood characteristics (e.g., walkability, neighborhood safety and material deprivation). Future public health research and interventions should consider the differential mechanisms involved in overweight/obesity by gender. The exact mechanisms behind how the social environment influences these pathways are still unclear and require future research.
authors.affiliation: Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3M2, Canada; Centre for Urban Health Solutions, St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, M5B 1W8, Canada; Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, Toronto, Ontario, M4N 3M5, Canada. Electronic address: sara.guilcher@utoronto.ca.
authors.forename: Sara J T
authors.initials: SJT
authors.lastname: Guilcher
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutritional Sciences, Ariel University, Israel.
authors.forename: Vered
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kaufman-Shriqui
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Promotion, Daegu University, Gyeongsan, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jongnam
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.affiliation: Centre for Urban Health Solutions, St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, M5B 1W8, Canada; Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, Toronto, Ontario, M4N 3M5, Canada; Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Ontario M5T 3M7, Canada.
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: O'Campo
authors.affiliation: Centre for Urban Health Solutions, St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, M5B 1W8, Canada; Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, Toronto, Ontario, M4N 3M5, Canada; Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Ontario M5T 3M7, Canada.
authors.forename: Flora I
authors.initials: FI
authors.lastname: Matheson
authors.affiliation: Centre for Urban Health Solutions, St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, M5B 1W8, Canada; Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, Toronto, Ontario, M4N 3M5, Canada; Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Ontario M5T 3M7, Canada; Department of Family and Community Medicine, St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, M5B 1W8, Canada; Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, M5G 1V7, Canada.
authors.forename: Richard H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Glazier
authors.affiliation: Centre for Urban Health Solutions, St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, M5B 1W8, Canada; Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, Toronto, Ontario, M4N 3M5, Canada; Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 1A8, Canada.
authors.forename: Gillian L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Booth
mesh_terms: D015992:Body Mass Index; D002170:Canada; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000517:prevention & control; D012111:Residence Characteristics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012737:Sex Factors; D012931:Social Environment; D014505:Urban Population
keywords: Female; Male; Obesity; Overweight; Prevalence; Residence characteristics; Sex factors; Social environment