Informing Policies to Address Childhood Obesity: A Systems Approach

项目摘要 近35%的学龄儿童超重，19%肥胖。这是一个近五倍 自1960年代以来，肥胖儿童的比例有所增加。政策制定者意识到 肥胖问题，但制定有效的肥胖预防干预措施一直具有挑战性。一个原因 是因为儿童的体重增加受到复杂因素的影响。本研究的重点是 影响肥胖的商业环境、建筑环境和学校环境的属性， 儿童和青少年。该项目涉及强大的准实验方法，并遵循一个系统 总体目标是生成可用于以下方面的可操作的、与政策相关的信息， 预防儿童肥胖。具体而言，该项目评估了获得健康饮食、接触 不健康的食物环境，安全区域的可用性，以及其他特征， 社区儿童肥胖问题。这项研究利用了一个独特的人口数据集， 阿肯色州公立学校的孩子们。自2004年以来，阿肯色州的公立学校一直在测量身体质量指数 筛选。这使得调查人员可以从孩子进入幼儿园开始跟踪儿童体重状况 到十年级学校里的孩子们离各种食品店、餐馆、游乐场都很近 和社区的其他特征正在仔细测量，以确定是否以及如何 许多邻里特征影响肥胖。该项目的成果将有助于政策制定者更好地针对 对那些特别容易患肥胖症的儿童进行干预， 了解社区的哪些具体因素会使儿童面临更大的风险。最后，该项目是 与该项目的社区发展工作密切协调，以促进工作的协调 在具有类似风险的社区中，从而促进建立以健康为重点的社区系统 教育工作者和卫生专业人员。

PROJECT SUMMARY Nearly 35 percent of school-aged children are overweight and 19 percent are obese. This is a nearly five-fold increase in the percentage of obese children since the 1960s. Policy makers are aware of the childhood obesity problem, but developing effective obesity prevention interventions has been challenging. One reason is because weight gain among children is influenced by a complexity of factors. The focus of this study is on attributes of the commercial environment, built environment, and school environment that affect obesity among children and adolescents. The project involves strong quasi-experimental methods and follows a systems approach with the overall objective of generating actionable, policy-relevant information that can be used to prevent childhood obesity. Specifically, the project assesses the effect of access to a healthy diet, exposure to unhealthy food environments, availability of safe areas for vigorous play, and other characteristics of neighborhoods on childhood obesity. The study takes advantage of a unique dataset on the population of Arkansas public schoolchildren. Since 2004, public schools in Arkansas have been taking body mass index screenings. This allows investigators to track childhood weight status from the time children enter kindergarten through 10th grade. The proximity of schoolchildren to different types of food stores, restaurants, playgrounds and other features of the community are being carefully measured in order to determine whether and how much neighborhood characteristics affect obesity. Outcomes of the project will help policymakers better target interventions to those children that are especially at risk for obesity and will help community leaders understand what specific elements of neighborhoods place children at greater risk. Finally, the project is coordinated closely with the Community Development efforts of the project to facilitate coordination of efforts among communities with similar risks and thereby foster the creation of health-focused community systems among educators and health professionals.