ArticleThe Journal of nutrition2023
Food Environments Within and Outside of Schools Play a Critical Role in Curtailing the Rise in Obesity among School-Aged Children over Time.
Article in The Journal of nutrition, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The trial behind it
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 19 citations in OpenAlex.
- Food Environment and Childhood Overweight/Obesity: A Systematic Review.Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.) · 2026Pooled it
- Towards a comprehensive school food environment audit tool in Canada: a systematic review of school food environment measurements and nutrition determinants.BMC public health · 2025Pooled it
- "Competitive" food and beverage policies and weight status: A systematic review of the evidence among sociodemographic subgroups.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2024Pooled it
- Influence of Food Environment Around Schools on Nutritional Status and Body Mass Index Trajectories Among Children and Adolescents.Nutrients · 2026Article
- Living next door to McDonald's: a qualitative study of community submissions and resident realities pre- and post development.BMC public health · 2026Article
- The "pro-inflammatory imprint" of ultra-processed food exposure: a review of mechanisms affecting child and adolescent health and development via the gut microbiome-inflammation axis.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Review
- Competitive food availability in schools before and after the onset of COVID-19: an interrupted time series analysis.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Drinking Water Availability in Public Schools: An Assessment of Four New Jersey School Districts.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
- Changes in the food environment surrounding schools in four New Jersey school districts between school years 2012-13 and 2019-20.Preventive medicine · 2025Article
- National school food standards in England: a cross-sectional study to explore compliance in secondary schools and impact on pupil nutritional intake.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2024Article
- The relationship between community food environment around schools and student meal participation: the role of school CEP participation status.BMC medicine · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundSound evidence for effective community-based strategies is needed to curtail upward trends in childhood obesity in the United States (US).
objectivesThe aim of the study was to assess the association between school and community food environments and the prevalence of obesity over time.
methodsData were collected from K-12 schools in 4 low-income New Jersey cities in the US. School-level obesity prevalence, calculated from nurse-measured heights and weights at 4 time points, was used as the outcome variable. Data on the school food environment (SFE) measured the healthfulness of school lunch and competitive food offerings annually. The community food environment (CFE), i.e., the number of different types of food outlets within 400 m of schools, was also captured annually. The count and presence of food outlets likely to be frequented by students were calculated. Exposure to composite environment profiles both within schools and in communities around schools was assessed using latent class analysis. Data from 106 schools were analyzed using multilevel linear regression.
resultsThe prevalence of obesity increased from 25% to 29% over the course of the study. Obesity rates were higher in schools that had nearby access to a greater number of limited-service restaurants and lower in schools with access to small grocery stores and upgraded convenience stores participating in initiatives to improve healthful offerings. Interaction analysis showed that schools that offered unhealthier, competitive foods experienced a faster increase in obesity rates over time. Examining composite food environment exposures, schools with unhealthy SFEs and high-density CFEs experienced a steeper time trend (β = 0.018, P < 0.001) in obesity prevalence compared to schools exposed to healthy SFE and low-density CFEs.
conclusionsFood environments within and outside of schools are associated with differential obesity trajectories over time and can play an important role in curtailing the rising trends in childhood obesity.
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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.