Neighborhood Disorder and Obesity-Related Outcomes among Women in Chicago

Stephanie Mayne,Julia Davis,Simona Rachapalli,Lynn Vo,Kiarri Kershaw,Angelina Jose,Allison Mo,Hussain Ali

doi:10.3390/ijerph15071395

Stephanie Mayne, Julia Davis + Show 6 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15071395

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Abstract

Neighborhood psychosocial stressors like crime and physical disorder may influence obesity-related outcomes through chronic stress or through adverse effects on health behaviors. Google Street View imagery provides a low-cost, reliable method for auditing neighborhood physical disorder, but few studies have examined associations of Street View-derived physical disorder scores with health outcomes. We used Google Street View to audit measures of physical disorder for residential census blocks from 225 women aged 18–44 enrolled from 4 Chicago neighborhoods. Latent neighborhood physical disorder scores were estimated using an item response theory model and aggregated to the block group level. Block-group level physical disorder scores and rates of police-recorded crime and 311 calls for service requests were linked to participants based on home addresses. Associations were estimated for 6 obesity-related outcomes: body mass index, obesity, total moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, and weekly consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, fast food, and snacks. Hierarchical regression models estimated cross-sectional associations adjusting for individual sociodemographics and neighborhood poverty. Higher neighborhood physical disorder was associated with greater odds of obesity (OR: 1.43, 95% CI: 1.01, 2.02). Living in a neighborhood with a higher crime rate was associated with an increase in weekly snack consumption of 3.06 (95% CI: 1.59, 4.54).

Highlights

Physical and social characteristics of neighborhoods are increasingly recognized as important determinants of cardiometabolic health [1]
Note- 1 participant was excluded from models for body mass index and obesity due to an invalid height (n = 224 for those models); 2 Total minutes per week of moderate and vigorous physical activity; 3 Sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) included regular sodas and fruit drinks; 4 Snacks included chips, candy, ice cream, cake, and cookies; 5 Obesity defined as ≥30 kg/m2. In this cross-sectional study of neighborhood physical and social disorder and obesity among women from four Chicago neighborhoods, we found living in a neighborhood with higher physical disorder was associated with higher odds of obesity
We found no association between rates of 311 calls for physical disorder-related complaints and obesity-related outcomes

Summary

Introduction

Physical and social characteristics of neighborhoods are increasingly recognized as important determinants of cardiometabolic health [1]. Repeat exposure to neighborhood physical and social disorder (e.g., graffiti, abandoned buildings, and crime) may trigger an ongoing physiological stress response resulting in dysregulation of neuroendocrine and inflammatory processes [2,3,4], a pathway that has been associated with central adiposity [5]. Perceptions of neighborhood disorder (which may be influenced by racial stereotyping and stigma) may lead to further economic disinvestment in disadvantaged neighborhoods [9], which can limit access to resources and amenities and may have negative health impacts. Most prior neighborhood research has utilized administrative data, such as census variables, to characterize neighborhood features [10].

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