Influence of Neighborhood Environment on Korean Adult Obesity Using a Bayesian Spatial Multilevel Model

Eun Young Lee, Sugie Lee, Bo Youl Choi and Jungsoon Choi
Additional contact information
Eun Young Lee: Institute for Health and Society, Hanyang University, Seoul 04763, Korea
Sugie Lee: Department of Urban Planning and Engineering, Hanyang University, Seoul 04763, Korea
Bo Youl Choi: Institute for Health and Society, Hanyang University, Seoul 04763, Korea
Jungsoon Choi: Department of Mathematics, Hanyang University, Seoul 04763, Korea

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 20, 1-15

Abstract: Previous studies using spatial statistical modeling that account for spatial associations between geographic areas are scarce. Therefore, this study examines the association between neighborhood environment and obesity using a Bayesian spatial multilevel model. Data from 78,014 adults living in Gyeonggi province in Korea were drawn from the 2013–2014 Korean Community Health Survey. Korean government databases and ArcGIS software (version 10.1, ESRI, Redlands, CA) were used to measure the neighborhood environment for 546 administrative districts of Gyeonggi province. A Bayesian spatial multilevel model was implemented across gender and age groups. The findings indicate that women aged 19–39 years who lived in neighborhoods farthest away from parks were more likely to be obese. Men aged 40–59 years who lived in neighborhoods farther from public physical activity facilities and with lower population density were more likely to be obese. Obesity for women aged 19–39 years was the most spatially dependent, while obesity for women aged 40–59 years was the least spatially dependent. The results suggest that neighborhood environments that provide more opportunities for physical activity are negatively related to obesity. Therefore, the creation of physical activity in favorable neighborhood environments, considering gender and age, may be a valuable strategy to reduce obesity.

Keywords: neighborhood; environment; obesity; Bayesian spatial multilevel model; Korea (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/20/3991/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/20/3991/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:20:p:3991-:d:278156

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().