CARDIA — Obesity, Diet and Activity Dynamics as Affected by the Economic & Built Environment
Major gaps exist in our understanding of the way shifts in the physical and social environment affect changes in dietary intake patterns and weight change. This longitudinal study will link contemporaneous geographic locations of respondents with diet- and activity-related built environment variables to data from an exceptional dataset including quality diet and physical activity data, the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults Study (CARDIA) [N=5,115 young adults aged 18–30 years at baseline, followed over a 20-year period]. This study will examine how modifiable built environmental factors, such as recreational resources and fast food restaurants in respondents’ neighborhoods, affect the key proximate determinants of obesity (diet and activity) and in turn affect weight changes and obesity. A central issue is determining modifiable environment factors that may be used as policy instruments to reduce ethnic and socioeconomic differentials in health status.
Principal Investigators: Barry M. Popkin and Penny Gordon-Larsen
CPC Fellow Investigators: David Guilkey
Other Investigators: Yan Song (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill), David Jacobs (Consultant, University of Minnesota)
Funding Source: NIH, other funding agencies
Funding Period: 07/01/2005–06/30/2010
Affiliated Research Projects
Diet, Activity, Obesity & the Built Environment Dynamics
Obesity Environment TransitionYoung Adult Environment & Physical Activity and Diet Dynamics
Determinants and Consequences of Alcohol Consumption
