SynthesisObesity (Silver Spring, Md.)2015
The relationship of the local food environment with obesity: A systematic review of methods, study quality, and results.
Synthesis in Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.), 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 274 papers, 18 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
274 citing papers in PubMed, 18 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The Association between Community Food Environments and Health Outcomes in High-Income Countries: A Systematic Literature Review.Current nutrition reports · 2025Pooled it
- The rural food environment and its association with diet, nutrition status, and health outcomes in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs): a systematic review.BMC public health · 2025Pooled it
- Systematic literature review of instruments that measure the healthfulness of food and beverages sold in informal food outlets.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2022Pooled it
- Measures of Perceived Neighborhood Food Environments and Dietary Habits: A Systematic Review of Methods and Associations.Nutrients · 2022Pooled it
- The impact of the consumer and neighbourhood food environment on dietary intake and obesity-related outcomes: A systematic review of causal impact studies.Social science & medicine (1982) · 2022Pooled it
- How Does the University Food Environment Impact Student Dietary Behaviors? A Systematic Review.Frontiers in nutrition · 2022Pooled it
- The influence of the urban food environment on diet, nutrition and health outcomes in low-income and middle-income countries: a systematic review.BMJ global health · 2021Pooled it
- The association between adverse childhood experiences and childhood obesity: A systematic review.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2021Pooled it
- Fast-food restaurant, unhealthy eating, and childhood obesity: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2021Pooled it
- Associations between the built environment and obesity: an umbrella review.International journal of health geographics · 2021Pooled it
- Grocery store access and childhood obesity: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2021Pooled it
- State-of-the-art of measures of the obesogenic environment for children.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2021Pooled it
- The Food Environments of Fruit and Vegetable Consumption in East and Southeast Asia: A Systematic Review.Nutrients · 2021Pooled it
- Impact of neighbourhood food environment on diet and obesity in China: a systematic review.Public health nutrition · 2020Pooled it
- The food environment in Latin America: a systematic review with a focus on environments relevant to obesity and related chronic diseases.Public health nutrition · 2019Pooled it
- Neighbourhood retail food outlet access, diet and body mass index in Canada: a systematic review.Health promotion and chronic disease prevention in Canada : research, policy and practice · 2019Pooled it
- A Systematic Review on Socioeconomic Differences in the Association between the Food Environment and Dietary Behaviors.Nutrients · 2019Pooled it
- Maternal and early-life area-level characteristics and childhood adiposity: A systematic review.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2019Pooled it
- The moderating role of eating behaviour traits in the association between exposure to hot food takeaway outlets and body fatness.International journal of obesity (2005) · 2023Trial
- Association between the food environment and the risk of ischemic stroke.American journal of preventive medicine · 2026Article
214 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveTo examine the relationship between local food environments and obesity and assess the quality of studies reviewed.
methodsSystematic keyword searches identified studies from US and Canada that assessed the relationship of obesity to local food environments. We applied a quality metric based on design, exposure and outcome measurement, and analysis.
resultsWe identified 71 studies representing 65 cohorts. Overall, study quality was low; 60 studies were cross-sectional. Associations between food outlet availability and obesity were predominantly null. Among non-null associations, we saw a trend toward inverse associations between supermarket availability and obesity (22 negative, 4 positive, 67 null) and direct associations between fast food and obesity (29 positive, 6 negative, 71 null) in adults. We saw direct associations between fast food availability and obesity in lower income children (12 positive, 7 null). Indices including multiple food outlets were most consistently associated with obesity in adults (18 expected, 1 not expected, 17 null). Limiting to higher quality studies did not affect results.
conclusionsDespite the large number of studies, we found limited evidence for associations between local food environments and obesity. The predominantly null associations should be interpreted cautiously due to the low quality of available studies.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.