This study will examine associations between neighborhood food environments, dietary intake and weight status among Latino families with preschool-age children. The specific aims of this work are to: (a) identify individual, familial and environmental predictors of perceived neighborhood food environments among Latino parents, (b) examine the association between parents’ neighborhood perceptions and children’s dietary intake and weight status, (c) evaluate food acquisition behaviors as a potential mediator of the relationship between perceived neighborhood food environments and children’s dietary intake; and (d) evaluate if perceived neighborhood food environments mediate and/or moderate effects of a family/school-based intervention on changes in dietary intake and weight status. The proposed study builds on a recently NIH-funded overweight prevention trial, the ‘Family Based Obesity Prevention in Latino Families’ study (FBOP), using baseline and post-intervention data from FBOP and adding measures of the perceived and objective food environments and activity space.
Start Date: October 2008
ID #: 65089
Principal Investigator: Angela Odoms-Young, PhD, MS
Co-Principal Investigator: Marian Fitzgibbon, PhD
Organization: University of Illinois at Chicago
Funding Round: Round 3
Age Groups: Adults and Families, Preschool-age children (ages 3 to 5)
Keywords: Body mass index (BMI), Food outlet, Geographic information systems, Neighborhood, Spanish language, Urban
Focus Area: Food Access
Resource Type: Grant Summary
State: Illinois
Race/Ethnicity: Latino(a) or Hispanic
Related Research
November 2025
The implications of banning synthetic food dyes on the food purchase quality of families with children
This study examines how removing synthetic dyes from the food supply impacts the nutritional quality of grocery purchases among families with children, focusing on the 7 dyes targeted by FDA for phase-out by the end of 2026 (some of which are required (i.e., red dye #3), while the removal of others are voluntary). Aim 1 MoreNovember 2025
Measuring the impact of charitable food program cuts on the nutritional quality of foods
This study examines how sudden cuts to USDA programs supporting the charitable food system (i.e., The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) and the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement (LFPA)) affect the supply of healthy food available for distribution by food banks. Existing data from 15 food banks will be analyzed, and additional data will MoreSeptember 2025