Study designs and analytic strategies for environmental and policy research on obesity, physical activity, and diet: recommendations from a meeting of experts.

Numerous authoritative reports have identified environmental and policy interventions as the most promising strategies for creating population-wide improvements in diet, physical activity, and obesity. Yet many methodologic challenges to conducting environmental and policy research must be overcome to enable this area of study to advance. A meeting titled "Study Designs and Analytic Strategies for Environmental and Policy Research on Obesity, Physical Activity, and Diet" was held April 8, 2008. Participants from diverse backgrounds identified priority gaps in knowledge and generated recommendations for promising methods to enhance environmental and policy research related to obesity. Final recommendations were based on a postmeeting participant survey. Existing methods were identified that could be applied to advance the field, including prospective studies, evaluations of natural experiments, and economic studies. Training for investigators in the use of appropriate statistical methods for complex designs and interdisciplinary collaboration were recommended. Methodologic research priorities included the development of measures of policy, health impact assessments, and the investigation of policy adoption and implementation. The results of this conference can be used to improve the quality and quantity of environmental and policy research as well as the translation to action to control obesity.

[1]  Steve Wing,et al.  The contextual effect of the local food environment on residents' diets: the atherosclerosis risk in communities study. , 2002, American journal of public health.

[2]  Steve Wing,et al.  Supermarkets, other food stores, and obesity: the atherosclerosis risk in communities study. , 2006, American journal of preventive medicine.

[3]  Reid Ewing,et al.  Identifying and Measuring Urban Design Qualities Related to Walkability. , 2006, Journal of physical activity & health.

[4]  J. Sallis,et al.  Physical Activity and Behavioral Medicine , 1998 .

[5]  S Kumanyika,et al.  Obesity prevention: the case for action , 2002, International Journal of Obesity.

[6]  Jeanette Gustat,et al.  Development of a Direct Observation Instrument to Measure Environmental Characteristics of Parks for Physical Activity. , 2006, Journal of physical activity & health.

[7]  J. M. Oakes,et al.  The (mis)estimation of neighborhood effects: causal inference for a practicable social epidemiology. , 2004, Social science & medicine.

[8]  B. Popkin,et al.  Environmental influences on food choice, physical activity and energy balance , 2005, Physiology & Behavior.

[9]  W H Dietz,et al.  Caloric imbalance and public health policy. , 1999, JAMA.

[10]  Lawrence D Frank,et al.  Measuring Physical Environments of Parks and Playgrounds: EAPRS Instrument Development and Inter-Rater Reliability. , 2006, Journal of physical activity & health.

[11]  Ann Forsyth,et al.  The Irvine-Minnesota inventory to measure built environments: reliability tests. , 2006, American journal of preventive medicine.

[12]  Katherine M Flegal,et al.  High body mass index for age among US children and adolescents, 2003-2006. , 2008, JAMA.

[13]  Thomas A Glass,et al.  Transforming research strategies for understanding and preventing obesity. , 2008, JAMA.

[14]  A. Bauman,et al.  Correlates of adults' participation in physical activity: review and update. , 2002, Medicine and science in sports and exercise.

[15]  Gösta Samuelson,et al.  Global strategy on diet, physical activity and health , 2004 .

[16]  J. Peters,et al.  Environmental contributions to the obesity epidemic. , 1998, Science.

[17]  K. Powell,et al.  The Effectiveness of Urban Design and Land Use and Transport Policies and Practices to Increase Physical Activity: A Systematic Review. , 2006, Journal of physical activity & health.

[18]  K. Flegal,et al.  Prevalence of overweight and obesity in the United States, 1999-2004. , 2006, JAMA.

[19]  S. Daniels,et al.  Childhood obesity prevention and treatment: recommendations for future research. , 2008, American journal of preventive medicine.

[20]  Catharyn T. Liverman,et al.  Preventing Childhood Obesity: Health in the Balance , 2005 .

[21]  Lawrence D Frank,et al.  Nutrition Environment Measures Study in restaurants (NEMS-R): development and evaluation. , 2007, American journal of preventive medicine.

[22]  Lawrence D. Frank,et al.  Healthy Nutrition Environments: Concepts and Measures , 2005, American journal of health promotion : AJHP.

[23]  W. Poston,et al.  Obesity and the built environment. , 2005, Journal of the American Dietetic Association.