Social Vulnerability, Built Environments Conducive to Physical Activity, and Adult Obesity int he State of Florida, 2021
Abstract
Social vulnerability, or a community’s ability to respond to stressors on health, might contribute to disparities in obesity rates. For officials to better target anti-obesity efforts, it is also important to understand the contextual factors surrounding social vulnerability from an environmental justice perspective. This study’s purpose is to investigate the role of social vulnerability and environments not conducive to physical activity on adult obesity at the county level in Florida. We conducted an ecological, cross-sectional study among the 67 Florida counties. To measure county-level social vulnerability, we utilized the 2020 CDC Social Vulnerability Index (SVI). Environments not conducive to physical activity and adult obesity prevalence were obtained from Robert Wood Johnson Foundation 2021 County Health Rankings. We dichotomized these variables at their medians and performed logistic regression to assess possible associations. Significant differences existed between counties with high and low rates of adult obesity in terms of opportunities for physical activity, and SVI (p<.05). In a logistic regression model, counties with high rates of poor opportunities for physical activity (aOR=9.89; 95% CI= 2.97, 32.94) and counties with high SVI (aOR= 4.07; 95% CI= 1.22, 13.52) had greater odds of being counties with high rates of adult obesity. Our results indicate that the intersection between environments not conducive to physical activity and socially vulnerable communities influence adult obesity prevalence among Florida counties. Identifying these socially vulnerable communities is helpful for identifying and responding to counties in need of interventions to address exercise opportunities and obesity.
Faculty Sponsors
Dr. Lucas Hollar, Dr. Erin Biggs
Project Type
Event
Location
Alvin Sherman Library
Start Date
4-5-2023 12:00 PM
End Date
4-6-2023 4:00 PM
Social Vulnerability, Built Environments Conducive to Physical Activity, and Adult Obesity int he State of Florida, 2021
Alvin Sherman Library
Social vulnerability, or a community’s ability to respond to stressors on health, might contribute to disparities in obesity rates. For officials to better target anti-obesity efforts, it is also important to understand the contextual factors surrounding social vulnerability from an environmental justice perspective. This study’s purpose is to investigate the role of social vulnerability and environments not conducive to physical activity on adult obesity at the county level in Florida. We conducted an ecological, cross-sectional study among the 67 Florida counties. To measure county-level social vulnerability, we utilized the 2020 CDC Social Vulnerability Index (SVI). Environments not conducive to physical activity and adult obesity prevalence were obtained from Robert Wood Johnson Foundation 2021 County Health Rankings. We dichotomized these variables at their medians and performed logistic regression to assess possible associations. Significant differences existed between counties with high and low rates of adult obesity in terms of opportunities for physical activity, and SVI (p<.05). In a logistic regression model, counties with high rates of poor opportunities for physical activity (aOR=9.89; 95% CI= 2.97, 32.94) and counties with high SVI (aOR= 4.07; 95% CI= 1.22, 13.52) had greater odds of being counties with high rates of adult obesity. Our results indicate that the intersection between environments not conducive to physical activity and socially vulnerable communities influence adult obesity prevalence among Florida counties. Identifying these socially vulnerable communities is helpful for identifying and responding to counties in need of interventions to address exercise opportunities and obesity.
