Unhealthy food options in the school environment are associated with diet quality and body weights of elementary school children in Canada.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

Increasing evidence links unhealthy food environments with diet quality and overweight/obesity. Recent evidence has demonstrated that relative food environment measures outperform absolute measures. Few studies have examined the interplay between these two measures. We examined the separate and combined effects of the absolute and relative densities of unhealthy food outlets within 1600 m buffers around elementary schools on children's diet- and weight-related outcomes.

Design

This is a cross-sectional study of 812 children from thirty-nine schools. The Youth Healthy Eating Index (Y-HEI) and daily vegetables and fruit servings were derived from the Harvard Food Frequency Questionnaire for Children and Youth. Measured heights and weights determined BMI Z-scores. Foo

SUBMITTER: Sim S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10195376 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature