Neighbourhood physical activity environments and adiposity in children and mothers

Background: Although neighbourhood environments are often blamed for contributing to rising levels of obesity, current evidence is based predominantly on cross-sectional samples. This study examined associations between objectively-measured environmental characteristics of neighbourhoods and adiposity cross-sectionally and longitudinally over three years in children and their female carers.

Conclusion: A small number of neighbourhood environment features were associated with adiposity outcomes. These differed by age group and neighbourhood scale (800m and 2km) and were inconsistent between cross-sectional and longitudinal findings. However, the results suggest that improvements to road connectivity and slowing traffic and provision of facilities for leisure activities popular among women may support obesity prevention efforts.