San Diego State UniversityDepartment of Psychology

Jim Sallis Oversees New Study to Investigate Contributors to Childhood Obesity  

Childhood obesity rates are on the rise, particularly among youth and adolescents, with alarming future health consequences. This disturbing trend has highlighted the need for a systematic evaluation of the factors contributing to this epidemic, particularly environmental factors that have been understudied but could lead to population-wide changes. With the integration of urban planning ideas into obesity and physical activity research, recent studies have shown that adult obesity and physical activity are related to neighborhood environmental characteristics, but few studies have evaluated the connection in children.
 
The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences has provided a $2 million grant to study food environments, recreational facilities, and the design of communities as predictors of weight change over a two year period in 6-10 year old children.  Neighborhoods in two regions in the U.S. (Cincinnati, OH & San Diego, CA) will be evaluated based on the built environment constructs of walkability (combination of street connectivity, residential density, land use mix, and the layout of retail shopping areas), public recreation space quality, and nutrition environment quality. The Principal Investigator is Dr. Brian Saelens, who is currently at the University of Cincinnati .  Saelens did his post doctoral studies under the direction of Dr. James Sallis, SDSU Psychology Professor.  Sallis will oversee the San Diego based portion of the study. 
 
The study aims to 1) evaluate the association of neighborhood-level physical activity and nutrition environment with children's weight status after controlling for known individual and familial risk factors on children's weight status, and 2) evaluate the ability of neighborhood-level environmental factors to predict the change in children's weight status over a 2-year period. 

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