Study of a Smart Growth Community's Effect on Prevention of Obesity in Middle-, Moderately Low- and Low-Income Families

OBJECTIVES:

Primary

- To evaluate the effects of the whole set as well as individual smart growth principles
on prevention of obesity risk in middle, moderately low, and low-income families who
reside in a smart growth community, the Preserve, compared to two types of control
groups of families who reside in other communities that may naturally vary in exposure
to these principles.

- To evaluate the longitudinal-mediational relationship between increased activity and
pro-health attitudes achieved in the smart growth community to lower obesity risk.

- To identify trajectories of physical activity over time and evaluate their relationship
to obesity risk, including high-stable, early-onset stable, early-onset short-term, and
low-stable trajectories.

Secondary (exploratory)

- To evaluate demographic x type of community (smart growth vs other) interactions (with
the major ethnic groups representing Hispanic vs white), gender, parent vs child on
outcomes, as well as on obesogenic trajectories.

- To evaluate a possible "chaining" or translational effect, i.e., whether effects of
living in a smart growth community generalize to changes in eating behavior as part of
a general change in health attitudes.

- To assess whether neighborhoods where physical activity actually takes place (defined
as 0.5 square-mile area and 10-15 walking distance from residence, school [for
children], work or equivalent [for index adult], and leisure), contribute significantly
to physical activity and eating behavior beyond the effect of smart growth community
residence.

- To determine whether some individual smart growth principles may have a relatively
greater impact on obesity risk than others, in both intervention and control
communities.

- To assess whether physical activity trajectories other than those hypothesized can be
identified for their predictive relationship to obesity prevention.

OUTLINE: Participants receive an accelerometer monitor and are instructed to wear it for 7
continuous days (except when sleeping, bathing, or swimming) on the right hip attached to an
adjusted belt to assess physical activity. Participants also undergo anthropometric measures
(height and weight) using a calibrated digital scale and professional stadiometer.

Participants complete surveys and questionnaires on Self-reported Physical Activity,
Self-reported Dietary Intake, and Social Network Survey. Participants also complete other
self-reported items assessing demographic characteristics, family finances, health status,
health history, length of current residence, home-relocation patterns, time use and
transportation patterns, substance use, depression, sleeping habits, fast-food consumption,
and school and work addresses.

PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 390 families living in The Preserve, 195 families who were not
chosen to live in The Preserve, and 195 control families who live in the surrounding area
will be accrued for this study.

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

- Must meet 1 of the following criteria:

- Residents who live in The Preserve, a smart growth community in Chino,
California

- Chosen by lottery to live in The Preserve

- Prospective buyers and renters for residences in The Preserve (but were not
chosen to live in The Preserve) living in the following communities and/or
cities:

- Ontario

- Pomona

- Diamond Bar

- Corona

- Yorba Linda/Mira Loma

- Chino

- Families from Chino and surrounding communities within a 30-minute drive from
The Preserve

- Families with children in grades 4-8 must meet the following criteria:

- Each family unit consists of 1 index parent defined as the parent who spends
relatively more time in the neighborhood on a daily basis

- An index child defined as a 4th-8th-grade child

- Income levels range from very-low income to middle income ($20-$165,000) based on
Area Median Income

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

- Not specified

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

- Not specified