Fast food outlets, physical activity facilities, and obesity among adults: a nationwide longitudinal study from Sweden

While neighborhood deprivation is a well-known predictor of obesity, the mechanisms behind this association are unclear and these are important to clarify before designing interventions focusing on modifiable neighborhood environmental factors in order to reduce obesity risk.

Objectives

This study examined the longitudinal association between availability of fast-food outlets and physical activity facilities and the risk of obesity among adults.

Methods

This study used multiple national register data from Sweden. During the 11-year follow-up period between 2005 and 2015, data from 1,167,449 men and 542,606 women, aged 20–55 years, were accessible for inclusion in this analysis. Incidence of obesity was identified based on a diagnosis of obesity during the follow-up period derived from clinical register data. Neighborhood availability of fast-food outlets and physical activity facilities were assessed in 2005 and Cox regression was used in the statistical analysis. Individual socio-demographic factors and neighborhood deprivation were used as covariates.

Results

There were no meaningful associations between neighborhood fast-food outlets or physical activity facilities and obesity in men or women. Neighborhood deprivation was, however, consistently and strongly associated with incidence of obesity in both men and women.

Conclusions

Availability of fast-food outlets and lack of physical activity facilities appear unlikely to cause obesity in Swedish adults. Other potentially modifiable environmental factors within specific social and cultural settings that may influence obesity risk should be examined in future studies.

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Acknowledgements

This Research was supported by the Swedish Heart-Lung Foundation, the Swedish Research Council, and ALF funding from Region Skåne to Kristina Sundquist.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Primary Health Care Research, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden Kenta Okuyama, Xinjun Li & Kristina Sundquist
  2. Center for Community-based Healthcare Research and Education, Shimane University, Shimane, Japan Kenta Okuyama, Takafumi Abe, Tsuyoshi Hamano, Toru Nabika & Kristina Sundquist
  3. Department of Sports Sociology and Health Sciences, Faculty of Sociology, Kyoto Sangyo University, Kyoto, Japan Tsuyoshi Hamano
  4. Department of Clinical Sciences, Genetic and Molecular Epidemiology Unit, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden Paul W. Franks
  5. Department of Functional Pathology, Shimane University School of Medicine, Izumo, Japan Toru Nabika
  6. Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, Department of Population Health Science and Policy, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA Kristina Sundquist
  1. Kenta Okuyama