Childhood obesity and the built environment.

ABSTRACT:

Purpose of review

Neighborhood factors are increasingly examined for their role in the childhood obesity epidemic. Whereas studies on the impacts of neighborhood factors on adult obesity are relatively common, studies examining these same factors on childhood obesity are far fewer.

Recent findings

Using the Ecological Systems Theory (EST) as a model, we sought to examine the strength of the literature with respect to neighborhood factors as outlined in EST. This includes factors related to the family and the school, which are embedded in larger social contexts of the community and society. These factors are often referred to in the literature as the 'built environment' which encompasses the entire range of structural elements in a residential setting including, for example,

SUBMITTER: Galvez MP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2896907 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature