Characterizing food environments near schools in California: A latent class approach simultaneously using multiple food outlet types and two spatial scales.

ABSTRACT: It is challenging to evaluate associations between the food environment near schools with either prevalence of childhood obesity or with socioeconomic characteristics of schools. This is because the food environment has many dimensions, including its spatial distribution. We used latent class analysis to classify public schools in urban, suburban, and rural areas in California into food environment classes based on the availability and spatial distribution of multiple types of unhealthy food outlets nearby. All urban schools had at least one unhealthy food outlet nearby, compared to seventy-two percent of schools in rural areas did. Food environment classes varied in the quantity of available food outlets, the relative mix of food outlet types, and the outlets' spatial distribution near sc

SUBMITTER: Sanchez BN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9344015 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature