1. Exploring how socioeconomic status affects neighbourhood environments’ effects on obesity risks: A longitudinal study in Singapore
- Author
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Bin Tan, Shin, Dickens, Borame L., Sevtsuk, Andres, Zheng, Siqi, Zeng, Kangwei, Lee, Yung Seng, Yap, Fabian, Chan, Shiao-Yng, Chan, Jerry Kok Yen, Tan, Kok Hian, Chong, Yap-Seng, Eriksson, Johan G., Chong, Mary F. -F., Arcaya, Mariana C., Clinicum, Doctoral Programme in Population Health, Doctoral Programme in Oral Sciences, Doctoral Programme in Clinical Research, Research Programs Unit, Johan Eriksson / Principal Investigator, Department of General Practice and Primary Health Care, and University of Helsinki
- Subjects
Built environment ,Ecology ,BUILT-ENVIRONMENT ,ACTIVE TRAVEL ,UNITED-STATES ,ENERGY-COST ,Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law ,RESIDENTIAL SEGREGATION ,FOOD ENVIRONMENT ,Structural confounding ,Urban Studies ,PHYSICAL-ACTIVITY ,CAUSAL INFERENCE ,SPATIAL EQUITY ,Socioeconomic disparities ,Obesity ,CHILDHOOD OBESITY ,5200 Other social sciences ,Nature and Landscape Conservation - Abstract
Research on how socioeconomic status interacts with neighbourhood characteristics to influence disparities in obesity outcomes is currently limited by residential segregation-induced structural confounding, a lack of empirical studies outside the U.S. and other 'Western' contexts, and an over-reliance on cross-sectional analyses. This study addresses these challenges by examining how socioeconomic status modifies the effect of accumulated exposures to obesogenic neighbourhood environments on children and mothers' BMI, drawing from a longitudinal mother-child birth cohort study in Singapore, an Asian city-state with relatively little residential segregation. We find that increased access to park connectors was associated with a decrease in BMI outcomes for mothers with higher socioeconomic status, but an increase for those with lower socioeconomic status. We also find that increased access to bus stops was associated with an increase in BMIz of children with lower socioeconomic status, but with a decrease in BMIz of children with higher socioeconomic status, while increased access to rail stations was associated with a decrease in BMIz of children with lower socioeconomic status only. Our results suggest that urban interventions might have heterogeneous effects by socioeconomic status.
- Published
- 2022