Examining Associations of Community Food Environments with Individual Diet Quality and Body Weight Status of Canadian Children

• Author / Creator

  Sim, Shannon

• Reducing the prevalence of unhealthy eating is an important challenge to address in order to reduce the burden of obesity and chronic disease. Approximately 1.6 million or one-third of Canadian children and youth are overweight or obese, and about 70% of children and youth consume less than five servings of vegetables and fruit daily. It is being increasingly recognized that food environments in which children live influence their diets and body weights. However, study findings are inconsistent, partly due to different approaches to measure the food environment. In addition, no study has examined the combined effect of the absolute and relative densities of unhealthy food outlets on diet quality and body weight status in Canadian children.
  The objective of this thesis was to examine the associations of community food environments with individual diet quality and body weight status in a sample of Canadian school-aged children. The specific objectives were to: 1) assess which food environment indicator and geographic area is better able to capture associations with individual diet quality and body weight status, and 2) use the better performing indicator and geographic area to assess whether the community food environment affects individual diet quality and body weight status.
  These objectives were addressed using data from Raising healthy Eating and Active Living Kids in Alberta (REAL Kids Alberta), a population-based survey of grade 5 students in Alberta, in addition to food retailer data provided by the Environmental Public Health Department of Alberta Health Services.
  In the first study of this thesis, comparison of two food environment indicators revealed that the novel indicator, which considers the types of foods sold or served at an establishment, was better able to capture associations with diet and weight status compared to the indicator based on store type. When geographic areas were compared, 1600m buffers around schools were better able to capture associations compared to smaller geographic areas. In the second study of this thesis, attending a school in an area with a higher relative density (proportion) of unhealthy food outlets was associated with lower diet quality, predominantly in areas where the absolute density (number) of unhealthy food outlets was also high.
  These findings provide evidence that the community food environment plays a role in the development of unhealthy eating and increased body weights of school-aged children. Interventions to reduce unhealthy eating and excess weights may be most effective in areas with a higher number of unhealthy food outlets, specifically where there are few alternative healthy options available. The present findings also support the need for more precise assessment of the community food environment.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Epidemiology
  • Obesity
  • Diet
  • Food environment
  • Population health

• Graduation date

  Fall 2019

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Science

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/r3-1y9k-ff46

• License

  Permission is hereby granted to the University of Alberta Libraries to reproduce single copies of this thesis and to lend or sell such copies for private, scholarly or scientific research purposes only. Where the thesis is converted to, or otherwise made available in digital form, the University of Alberta will advise potential users of the thesis of these terms. The author reserves all other publication and other rights in association with the copyright in the thesis and, except as herein before provided, neither the thesis nor any substantial portion thereof may be printed or otherwise reproduced in any material form whatsoever without the author's prior written permission.