Journal of urban health : bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine
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The obesity rate in Chicago has increased up to more than 30% in the last two decades. Obesity is a major problem in Chicago, where 36% of the city's high school students and 61% of adults in the metropolitan area are overweight or obese. Simultaneously, Chicago remains highly segregated by race-a phenomenon that begs for spatial analysis of health. ⋯ In Chicago, each additional convenience store in a community is associated with a 0.42% increase in the obesity rate. Fast food restaurant access is predictive of a greater obesity rate, and grocery store access is predictive of less obesity rate in a community with a higher percentage of African American population. Findings can be used to promote equitable access to food retail outlets, which may help reduce broader health inequities in Chicago.
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Over the past decade, large urban counties have implemented ShotSpotter, a gun fire detection technology, across the USA. It uses acoustic listening devices to identify discharged firearms' locations. We examined the effect of ShotSpotter with a pooled, cross-sectional time-series analysis within the 68 large metropolitan counties in the USA from 1999 to 2016. ⋯ Counties in states with permit-to-purchase firearm laws saw a 15% reduction in firearm homicide incidence rates; counties in states with right-to-carry laws saw a 21% increase in firearm homicide incidence rates. Results suggest that implementing ShotSpotter technology has no significant impact on firearm-related homicides or arrest outcomes. Policy solutions may represent a more cost-effective measure to reduce urban firearm violence.