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This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: AJPH.2007.128702v1 99/2/271    most recent Submit a response View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Web of Science (5) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Franzini, L. Articles by Tortolero, S. R. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Franzini, L. Articles by Tortolero, S. R. Related Collections Exercise/Physical Activity Obesity, Overweight, Underweight Adolescent Health

Luisa Franzini, PhD, Marc N. Elliott, PhD, Paula Cuccaro, PhD, Mark Schuster, MD, PhD, M. Janice Gilliland, PhD, MSPH, Jo Anne Grunbaum, EdD, Frank Franklin, MD and Susan R. Tortolero, PhD

Luisa Franzini, Paula Cuccaro, and Susan R. Tortolero are with the University of Texas School of Public Health, Houston. Marc N. Elliott is with the University of California, Los Angeles, and the RAND Corporation, Los Angeles. Mark Schuster is with the Children's Hospital Boston/Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. M. Janice Gilliland and Frank Franklin are with the University of Alabama, Birmingham. Jo Anne Grunbaum is with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA.

Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Luisa Franzini, PhD, University of Texas School of Public Health, Office E923, 1200 Pressler Dr, Houston, TX 77030 (e-mail: Luisa.Franzini{at}uth.tmc.edu).

Objectives. We investigated the association between physical and social neighborhood environments and fifth-grade students’ physical activity and obesity.

Methods. We collected data on 650 children and their primary caregivers during phase 1 of Healthy Passages, a multisite, community-based, cross-sectional study of health risk behaviors and health outcomes in children. We conducted independent systematic neighborhood observations to measure neighborhood physical characteristics, and we analyzed survey data on social processes. We modeled children's physical activity and obesity status with structural equation models that included latent variables for the physical and social environments.

Results. After we controlled for children's sociodemographic factors, we found that a favorable social environment was positively associated with several measures of physical activity and that physical activity was negatively associated with obesity in these children. Physical environment was not significantly associated with physical activity.

Conclusions. Our findings suggest that neighborhood social factors as well as the physical environment should be considered in the development of health policy and interventions to reduce childhood obesity.