Fruit and Vegetable Intake and Obesity in Preadolescent Children: The Role of Neighborhood Poverty and Grocery Store Access

Background: The prevalence of obesity among children continues to rise. Individual-focused health education efforts have been minimally successful in producing the necessary changes to curb this epidemic. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between neighborhood characteristics, grocery store availability and accessibility, and parent-reported fruit and vegetable intake and/or weight status. Methods: Data was collected from 797 preadolescent children (ages 6-11) participating in an obesity prevention study. Individual-level variables were daily fruit and vegetable intake and body mass index. Social and physical environment variables included percent of poverty within neighborhoods (census tracts) and mapped grocery store locations. Bivariate analyses were performed to explore relationships. Results: Most (78%) children (mean age=8.1) failed to meet fruit and vegetable recommendations, and 37% were overweight. Nearly 50% of high poverty neighborhoods had no grocery stores within their boundaries. Children in high poverty neighborhoods consumed fewer servings of fruits and vegetables (t = 4.03, p less than 0.001) than children in low poverty neighborhoods. Discussion: This study demonstrates some associations between neighborhood characteristics, grocery store availability, and child fruit and vegetable intake. Translation to Health Education Practice: Health educators should consider how the social and physical environment may hinder positive health behaviors. (Contains 1 figure and 3 tables.)