Disparities of children’s obesogenic environments in Louisiana

Childhood obesity remains a pressing public health concern, with significant long-term implications for children’s growth and development, as well as an increased risk for various diseases. In recent years, the obesity prevalence among children has shown a concerning rise, particularly in the Deep South (e.g., Louisiana) exhibiting higher rates compared to other regions of the United States. Meanwhile, environmental factors play a critical role in shaping children’s health behaviors and outcomes. There has been an increasing body of research on the relation between obesogenic environment and health, but far less focused on child health.

This study provides a comprehensive measurement of obesogenic environments for children in Louisiana covering park accessibility, walkability, and food environment at the ZIP Code area level. Geographic information system (GIS) analyses revealed significant urban-rural disparities and heterogeneity by race and socioeconomic deprivation. A three-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) further revealed the main and interaction effects of urbanicity, Black population percentage, and area deprivation index (ADI) on obesogenic environment indicators.

Regarding the disparities of walkability, not only the individual factors including urbanicity, Black population percentage, and ADI significantly affect walkability, but also the interaction terms among these factors, including both two-way and three-way interactions, are significant. Urban-rural differences and ADI levels contribute to disparities in the food environment. But no significant disparities are observed in park accessibility across different subgroups.

While park accessibility disparities are limited, the food environment varies significantly by urbanicity and ADI level, walkability shows complex socio-spatial interactions. The study sheds light on targeted public health interventions and urban planning to close the gaps in obesogenic environments for children’s health.