Food environment, walkability, and public open spaces are associated with incident development of cardio-metabolic risk factors in a biomedical cohort

Catherine Paquet; Neil T Coffee; Matthew T Haren; Natasha J Howard; Robert J Adams; Anne W Taylor; Mark Daniel

doi:10.1016/j.healthplace.2014.05.001

Food environment, walkability, and public open spaces are associated with incident development of cardio-metabolic risk factors in a biomedical cohort

Health Place. 2014 Jul:28:173-6. doi: 10.1016/j.healthplace.2014.05.001. Epub 2014 Jun 2.

Authors

Catherine Paquet¹, Neil T Coffee², Matthew T Haren³, Natasha J Howard⁴, Robert J Adams⁵, Anne W Taylor⁶, Mark Daniel⁷

Affiliations

¹ Spatial Epidemiology and Evaluation Research Group, School of Population Health, Sansom Institute for Health Research, City East Campus, University of South Australia, Internal Post Code CWE-48, GPO Box 2471, Adelaide 5001, SA, Australia; Research Centre of the Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Verdun, QC, Canada H4H 1R2. Electronic address: Catherine.paquet@unisa.edu.au.
² Spatial Epidemiology and Evaluation Research Group, School of Population Health, Sansom Institute for Health Research, City East Campus, University of South Australia, Internal Post Code CWE-48, GPO Box 2471, Adelaide 5001, SA, Australia. Electronic address: Neil.Coffee@unisa.edu.au.
³ Spatial Epidemiology and Evaluation Research Group, School of Population Health, Sansom Institute for Health Research, City East Campus, University of South Australia, Internal Post Code CWE-48, GPO Box 2471, Adelaide 5001, SA, Australia. Electronic address: matt.haren@unisa.edu.au.
⁴ Spatial Epidemiology and Evaluation Research Group, School of Population Health, Sansom Institute for Health Research, City East Campus, University of South Australia, Internal Post Code CWE-48, GPO Box 2471, Adelaide 5001, SA, Australia. Electronic address: Natasha.Howard@unisa.edu.au.
⁵ The Health Observatory, Discipline of Medicine, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide 5005, SA, Australia. Electronic address: Robert.adams@adelaide.edu.au.
⁶ Population Research and Outcome Studies, Discipline of Medicine, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide 5005, SA, Australia. Electronic address: Anne.Taylor@adelaide.edu.au.
⁷ Spatial Epidemiology and Evaluation Research Group, School of Population Health, Sansom Institute for Health Research, City East Campus, University of South Australia, Internal Post Code CWE-48, GPO Box 2471, Adelaide 5001, SA, Australia; Department of Medicine, The University of Melbourne, St Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne 3065, VIC, Australia; Discipline of Medicine, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia; South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, Adelaide 5001, SA, Australia. Electronic address: mark.daniel@unisa.edu.au.

PMID: 24880234
DOI: 10.1016/j.healthplace.2014.05.001

Abstract

We investigated whether residential environment characteristics related to food (unhealthful/healthful food sources ratio), walkability and public open spaces (POS; number, median size, greenness and type) were associated with incidence of four cardio-metabolic risk factors (pre-diabetes/diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidaemia, abdominal obesity) in a biomedical cohort (n=3205). Results revealed that the risk of developing pre-diabetes/diabetes was lower for participants in areas with larger POS and greater walkability. Incident abdominal obesity was positively associated with the unhealthful food environment index. No associations were found with hypertension or dyslipidaemia. Results provide new evidence for specific, prospective associations between the built environment and cardio-metabolic risk factors.

Keywords: Food environment; Longitudinal studies; Public open space; Residence characteristics; Walkability.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Cardiovascular Diseases
Cohort Studies
Dyslipidemias / epidemiology*
Environment Design*
Female
Health Behavior
Humans
Hypertension / epidemiology*
Incidence
Longitudinal Studies
Male
Metabolic Syndrome
Middle Aged
Obesity / epidemiology*
Prediabetic State / epidemiology*
Regression Analysis
Restaurants
Risk Factors
South Australia / epidemiology
Walking*
Young Adult