Journal
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH
Volume 100, Issue 11, Pages 2296-2303Publisher
AMER PUBLIC HEALTH ASSOC INC
DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2009.183293
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Funding
- University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
- Beeson Career Development Award [K23 AG26748]
- UCLA Resource Center in Minority Aging Research [AG02004]
- National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities [P20MD00148]
- Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Network for Multicultural Research on Health and Healthcare
- National Institute of Child Health and Human Development [R01 HD35944]
- Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
- US Department of Health and Human Services
- Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research
- National Institutes of Health
- Los Angeles County Urban Research Group
- Russell Sage Foundation
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Objectives. We sought to determine whether there is an association between perceived neighborhood safety and body mass index (BMI), accounting for endogeneity. Methods. A random sample of 2255 adults from the Los Angeles Family and Neighborhood Survey 2000-2001 was analyzed using instrumental variables. The main outcome was BMI using self-reported height and weight, and the main independent variable was residents' report of their neighborhood safety. Results. In adjusted analyses, individuals who perceived their neighborhoods as unsafe had a BMI that was 2.81 kg/m(2) (95% confidence interval [CI]=0.11, 5.52) higher than did those who perceived their neighborhoods as safe. Conclusions. Our results suggest that clinical and public health interventions aimed at reducing rates of obesity may be enhanced by strategies to modify the physical and social environment that incorporate residents' perceptions of their communities. (Am J Public Health. 2010;100:2296-2303. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2009.183293)
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