TY - JOUR
T1 - Residential exposure to fast-food restaurants and its association with diet quality, overweight and obesity in the Netherlands
T2 - a cross-sectional analysis in the EPIC-NL cohort
AU - Harbers, Marjolein C.
AU - Beulens, Joline W.J.
AU - Boer, Jolanda Ma
AU - Karssenberg, Derek
AU - Mackenbach, Joreintje D.
AU - Rutters, Femke
AU - Vaartjes, Ilonca
AU - Verschuren, Wm Monique
AU - van der Schouw, Yvonne T.
N1 - Funding Information:
Marjolein C. Harbers was supported by the Netherlands Cardiovascular Research Initiative, an initiative with support of the Dutch Heart Foundation (CVON2016-04) and The Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development (531003001) in the context of the Supreme Nudge project. Joreintje D. Mackenbach is funded by an NWO VENI grant on “Making the healthy choice easier–role of the local food environment” (grant number 451-17-032). Derek Karssenberg was supported by an Utrecht University grant Global Geo Health Data Center. Funders had no role in the design of the study and collection, analysis, and interpretation of data and in writing the manuscript, nor have they authority on the decision to submit the manuscript for publication.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, The Author(s).
PY - 2021/6/16
Y1 - 2021/6/16
N2 - BACKGROUND: Unhealthy food environments may contribute to unhealthy diets and risk of overweight and obesity through increased consumption of fast-food. Therefore, we aimed to study the association of relative exposure to fast-food restaurants (FFR) with overall diet quality and risk of overweight and obesity in a sample of older adults.METHODS: We analyzed cross-sectional data of the EPIC-NL cohort (n = 8,231). Data on relative FFR exposure was obtained through linkage of home address in 2015 with a retail outlet database. We calculated relative exposure to FFR by dividing the densities of FFR in street-network buffers of 400, 1000, and 1500 m around the home of residence by the density of all food retailers in the corresponding buffer. We calculated scores on the Dutch Healthy Diet 2015 (DHD15) index using data from a validated food-frequency questionnaire. BMI was categorized into normal weight (BMI < 25), overweight (25 ≤ BMI < 30), and obesity (BMI ≥ 30). We used multivariable linear regression (DHD15-index) and multinomial logistic regression (weight status), using quartiles of relative FFR exposure as independent variable, adjusting for lifestyle and environmental characteristics.RESULTS: Relative FFR exposure was not significantly associated with DHD15-index scores in the 400, 1000, and 1500 m buffers (β
Q4vsQ1= -0.21 [95 %CI: -1.12; 0.70]; β
Q4vsQ1= -0.12 [95 %CI: -1.10; 0.87]; β
Q4vsQ1 = 0.37 [95 %CI: -0.67; 1.42], respectively). Relative FFR exposure was also not related to overweight in consecutive buffers (OR
Q4vsQ1=1.10 [95 %CI: 0.97; 1.25]; OR
Q4vsQ1=0.97 [95 %CI: 0.84; 1.11]; OR
Q4vsQ1= 1.04 [95 %CI: 0.90-1.20]); estimates for obesity were similar to those of overweight.
CONCLUSIONS: A high proportion of FFR around the home of residence was not associated with diet quality or overweight and obesity in this large Dutch cohort of older adults. We conclude that although the food environment may be a determinant of food choice, this may not directly translate into effects on diet quality and weight status. Methodological improvements are warranted to provide more conclusive evidence.
AB - BACKGROUND: Unhealthy food environments may contribute to unhealthy diets and risk of overweight and obesity through increased consumption of fast-food. Therefore, we aimed to study the association of relative exposure to fast-food restaurants (FFR) with overall diet quality and risk of overweight and obesity in a sample of older adults.METHODS: We analyzed cross-sectional data of the EPIC-NL cohort (n = 8,231). Data on relative FFR exposure was obtained through linkage of home address in 2015 with a retail outlet database. We calculated relative exposure to FFR by dividing the densities of FFR in street-network buffers of 400, 1000, and 1500 m around the home of residence by the density of all food retailers in the corresponding buffer. We calculated scores on the Dutch Healthy Diet 2015 (DHD15) index using data from a validated food-frequency questionnaire. BMI was categorized into normal weight (BMI < 25), overweight (25 ≤ BMI < 30), and obesity (BMI ≥ 30). We used multivariable linear regression (DHD15-index) and multinomial logistic regression (weight status), using quartiles of relative FFR exposure as independent variable, adjusting for lifestyle and environmental characteristics.RESULTS: Relative FFR exposure was not significantly associated with DHD15-index scores in the 400, 1000, and 1500 m buffers (β
Q4vsQ1= -0.21 [95 %CI: -1.12; 0.70]; β
Q4vsQ1= -0.12 [95 %CI: -1.10; 0.87]; β
Q4vsQ1 = 0.37 [95 %CI: -0.67; 1.42], respectively). Relative FFR exposure was also not related to overweight in consecutive buffers (OR
Q4vsQ1=1.10 [95 %CI: 0.97; 1.25]; OR
Q4vsQ1=0.97 [95 %CI: 0.84; 1.11]; OR
Q4vsQ1= 1.04 [95 %CI: 0.90-1.20]); estimates for obesity were similar to those of overweight.
CONCLUSIONS: A high proportion of FFR around the home of residence was not associated with diet quality or overweight and obesity in this large Dutch cohort of older adults. We conclude that although the food environment may be a determinant of food choice, this may not directly translate into effects on diet quality and weight status. Methodological improvements are warranted to provide more conclusive evidence.
KW - Aged
KW - Cross-Sectional Studies
KW - Diet
KW - Humans
KW - Netherlands/epidemiology
KW - Obesity/epidemiology
KW - Overweight/epidemiology
KW - Residence Characteristics
KW - Restaurants
KW - Neighborhood
KW - Obesity
KW - Diet quality
KW - Fast-food
KW - Food environment
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85108155474&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1186/s12937-021-00713-5
DO - 10.1186/s12937-021-00713-5
M3 - Article
C2 - 34134701
AN - SCOPUS:85108155474
SN - 1475-2891
VL - 20
SP - 1
EP - 10
JO - nutrition journal
JF - nutrition journal
IS - 1
M1 - 56
ER -