Burdette HL, Whitaker RC. Neighborhood playgrounds, fast food restaurants, and crime: relationships to overweight in low-income preschool children. Preventive Medicine. 2004;38:57-63.
The authors conducted a large cross-sectional study of more than 7,000 low-income 3- and 4-year-olds in Cincinnati, Ohio. All of the children in the study were enrolled in the Special Supplemental Food and Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program. The purpose of the study was to test the hypotheses that preschool children who are overweight, in comparison with children who are not overweight, live (1) farther away from the nearest playground, (2) closer to the nearest fast-food restaurant, and (3) in neighborhoods with higher crime rates. The investigators used innovative data handling and Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping techniques. Data from WIC's database were used to calculate each child's body mass index. Playgrounds were tracked in a database created by the county health department. Fast-food restaurants were identified using specified criteria (e.g., had franchises in multiple states, served complete meals without waiters or waitresses), and their addresses were located using the Internet or phone books. Crime statistics were used to measure neighborhood safety. Ultimately, the authors found no difference between preschool children who were overweight and children who were not overweight in mean distance to the nearest playground or fast-food restaurant; they also found no difference between the two groups of preschool children by measures of neighborhood safety.
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