The Neighborhood Environment and Overweight/Obesity

Abstract

Understanding the various social factors that relate to the prevalence of obesity has become one of the main public health projects over the past several decades as rates of obesity have risen over time. Much of this extant work is predominantly focused on individual-level risk factors, particularly those related to diet and exercise. As such, many of the proposed interventions within medicine and public health alike have focused on altering individual behaviors. However, from an ecological perspective, a long tradition in demography, there may be ways that the environment in which an individual is situated may influence their behaviors and choices. That is, individuals often make choices and behave in a manner that is constrained by their context. Here, we examine how the environment may influence health-related behaviors and ultimately weight status. One’s local neighborhood creates an opportunity structure that may be obesogenic, or promoting obesity, depending on how that environment is organized. In this chapter, we examine the literature on how neighborhood environments relate to the weight status of individuals living in these environments. We tackle this topic by addressing two broad literatures and how they relate to overweight/obesity: organizational resources and environmental quality. Understanding the ecological contribution to obesity can also lead us to different policy solutions, from solutions that focus on altering individual-level behavior to solutions that focus on creating environments that promote and encourage healthy behaviors.