• Tiffany M Powell-Wiley, Colby Ayers, Priscilla Agyemang, Tammy Leonard, David Berrigan, Rachel Ballard-Barbash, Min Lian, Sandeep R Das, and Christine M Hoehner.
• Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Branch, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institutes, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, United States; Applied Research Program, Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, National Cancer Institute, Rockville, MD 20850, United States. Electronic address: tiffany.powell@nih.gov.
• Prev Med. 2014 Sep 1; 66: 22-7.

ObjectiveThe aim of this study is to examine a relationship between neighborhood-level socioeconomic deprivation and weight change in a multi-ethnic cohort from Dallas County, Texas and whether behavioral/psychosocial factors attenuate the relationship.MethodsNon-movers (those in the same neighborhood throughout the study period) aged 18-65 (N=939) in Dallas Heart Study (DHS) underwent weight measurements between 2000 and 2009 (median 7-year follow-up). Geocoded home addresses defined block groups; a neighborhood deprivation index (NDI) was created (higher NDI=greater deprivation). Multi-level modeling determined weight change relative to NDI. Model fit improvement was examined with adding physical activity and neighborhood environment perceptions (higher score=more unfavorable perceptions) as covariates. A significant interaction between residence length and NDI was found (p-interaction=0.04); results were stratified by median residence length (11 years).ResultsAdjusting for age, sex, race/ethnicity, smoking, and education/income, those who lived in neighborhood >11 years gained 1.0 kg per one-unit increment of NDI (p=0.03), or 6 kg for those in highest NDI tertile compared with those in the lowest tertile. Physical activity improved model fit; NDI remained associated with weight gain after adjustment for physical activity and neighborhood environment perceptions. There was no significant relationship between NDI and weight change for those in their neighborhood ≤11 years.ConclusionsLiving in more socioeconomically deprived neighborhoods over a longer time period was associated with weight gain in DHS.Published by Elsevier Inc.

23 keywords...

hide…