Urban Sprawl and Risk for Being Overweight or Obese
- 1 September 2004
- journal article
- Published by American Public Health Association in American Journal of Public Health
- Vol. 94 (9), 1574-1579
- https://doi.org/10.2105/ajph.94.9.1574
Abstract
Objectives. I examined the association between urban sprawl and the risk for being overweight or obese among US adults. Methods. A measure of urban sprawl in metropolitan areas was derived from the 2000 US Census; individual-level data were obtained from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. I used multilevel analysis to assess the association between urban sprawl and obesity. Results. After I controlled for gender, age, race/ethnicity, income, and education, for each 1-point rise in the urban sprawl index (0–100 scale), the risk for being overweight increased by 0.2% and the risk for being obese increased by 0.5%. Conclusions. The current obesity epidemic has many causes, but there is an association between urban sprawl and obesity.Keywords
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