The Relation of Community Occupational Structure and Prevalence of Obesity in New York City Neighborhoods: An Ecological Analysis

Abstract

ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between community occupational structure (COS) and neighborhood obesity in selected neighborhoods of New York City. Design: Data from the 2000 US Population Census were used to classify New York city neighborhoods according to community occupational structure (ie, the proportion of white-collar workers per neighborhood). Data from 2002–2004 New York City Community Health Surveys were used to generate prevalence estimates for obesity. Neighborhood obesity was estimated by the proportion of neighborhood residents with a body mass index of 30 kg/m2 or more. Weighted estimates for all study variables, including socioenvironmental characteristics, were generated using SUDAAN and all statistical analyses of weighted data were then conducted using SAS. Results: Obesity prevalence was inversely associated with community occupational structure with the highest (24.5%) and lowest (11.7%) obesity prevalence proportions being observed in low-category and high-category neighborhoods, respectively. High-COS neighborhoods had the highest densities of community resources known to facilitate healthful eating and routine physical activity, including supermarkets, fruit and vegetable markets, and fitness/recreational centers. Within high-COS neighborhoods, however, obesity prevalence was much higher among blacks (19.5%) and Hispanics (21.6%) compared to whites (9.7%). Conclusions: More research is needed to investigate the relative effects of community-level and individual-level factors on the epidemiology of obesity in New York City neighborhoods.