Is your neighbourhood to blame for your weight?

Neighborhoods that allow physical activity and offer access to healthy foods appear to positively impact residents’ weight.

Neighborhoods “influence the extent to which people adopt and maintain behaviors linked to obesity,” said Dr. Mujahid of Harvard University’s School of Public Health.

Researchers found that men and women living in neighborhoods with better walking environments and availability of healthy foods were leaner.

“Even highly motivated individuals will find it very difficult to be more physically active and eat healthy foods if they live in environments that do not help support these lifestyles,” said Mujahid.

Dr. Mujahid looked at links between the physical and social aspects of neighborhoods in New York City, Baltimore, Maryland, and Forsyth County, North Carolina and the body weight of 2,865 adults who lived in these locations over a span of two years.

The average age of the participants was 62 and roughly half were women. Over 45% had lived in their respective neighborhoods for at least 20 years,.

The researchers found that men and women living in neighborhoods with better walking environments and availability of healthy foods were leaner than those living in less physically desirable neighborhoods.

Neighborhoods rated higher in social qualities, such as safety, aesthetics, and social cohesion, were associated with lower overall weight problems among women. However men showed the opposite — higher body mass index among those residing in highly rated social neighborhoods — and the investigators say further research must confirm this unexpected finding.

SOURCE: American Journal of Epidemiology, June 2008