023 Gender Differences in the Association Between Neighbourhood Environment Characteristics With Being Overweight

Abstract

Associations of neighbourhood environmental characteristics with physical activity have been found to differ between men and women. However, less is known if there are gender differences in the association of environmental characteristics with being overweight. Consequently, the purpose of this study was to examine the association between the perceived neighbourhood environment and being overweight in men and women. Men and women between 35 and 70 years of age, participants of the Prospective Urban and Rural Epidemiological (PURE) Study (n=1496), were assessed for socio-demographics, lifestyle behaviours, and environmental perceptions. Their height and weight were measured and body mass index (BMI) calculated. Perception of the neighbourhood environment was measured by the Neighbourhood Environment Walkability Scale (NEWS) and assessed perceptions of eight neighbourhood features. Overweight was defined as BMI >25kg/m2. Gender differences in environmental perceptions were assessed using Chi-square analyses. Logistic regression models, stratified by sex, examined the association between environmental perceptions and being overweight. Models were adjusted for age, ethnicity, education, tobacco and alcohol use (p-value <0.05 for statistical significance). Mean BMI was 26.1 kg/m2 (SD=5.5) for women and 27.1 kg/m2 (SD=4.4) for men. Compared to men, women perceived their neighbourhoods as less safe from crime, more aesthetically pleasing and having greater access to services (p<0.01 for all). After adjusting for potential confounders, perceiving a greater variety of destinations was associated with lower odds of being overweight for both women (OR=0.78, 95% CI=0.611 to 0.988) and men (OR=0.73, 95% CI=0.563 to 0.958). In addition, women who perceived higher neighbourhood crime were less likely to be overweight (OR=0.70, 95% CI=0.507 to 0.965). The remaining environmental features showed no statistically significant associations with being overweight. While men and women perceive their neighbourhoods differently, there was a lower likelihood of being overweight for both men and women in neighbourhoods with a greater variety of places to go. However, perceived higher neighbourhood crime was associated with lower odds of being overweight for women, but not men. This unexpected result could be because although women feel unsafe compared to men, they may engage in utilitarian physical activity more so than men in their neighbourhoods, which may in turn have an impact on their weight status. Our research suggests that public health interventions aimed at improving residents' awareness of features within their neighbourhood environment may help to decrease the prevalence of overweight, but these interventions need to target different features for men and women.