New paper on neighborhood attributes and obesity risks in Singapore

Abstract: Research on how socioeconomic status interacts with neighbourhood characteristics to influence disparities in obesity outcomes is currently limited by residential segregation-induced structural confounding, a lack of empirical studies outside the U.S. and other ‘Western’ contexts, and an over-reliance on cross-sectional analyses. This study addresses these challenges by examining how socioeconomic status modifies the effect of accumulated exposures to obesogenic neighbourhood environments on children and mothers’ BMI, drawing from a longitudinal mother-child birth cohort study in Singapore, an Asian city-state with relatively little residential segregation. We find that increased access to park connectors predicted a decrease in BMI outcomes for mothers with higher socioeconomic status, but an increase for those with lower socioeconomic status. Our results suggest that urban interventions might have heterogeneous effects by socioeconomic status.

Shin Bin Tan, Borame Dickens, Andres Sevtsuk, Siqi Zheng, Kangwei Zeng, Lee Yung Seng Lee, Fabian Yap, Shiao-Yng Chan, Jerry Kok Yen Chan, Kok Hian Tan, Chong Yap-Seng, Johan G. Eriksson, Mary F-F Chong, Mariana Arcaya. Exploring how socioeconomic status affects neighbourhood environments’ effects on obesity risks: A longitudinal study in Singapore. Landscape and Urban Planning. Forthcoming.