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E‐MECHANIC Exercise Interventions Eliminate the Unexpected Association between Weight Gain and a Healthy Food Environment
Author(s) -
Myers Candice Alicia,
Broyles Stephanie T.,
Church Timothy S.,
Martin Corby K.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.30.1_supplement.1151.7
Subject(s) - overweight , psychological intervention , obesity , medicine , socioeconomic status , randomized controlled trial , gerontology , environmental health , demography , physical therapy , population , psychiatry , sociology
Objective To examine if the relationship between change in BMI and weight during the E‐MECHANIC study were moderated by the neighborhood food environment among participants assigned to exercise versus no‐exercise groups. Methods This study used data from the Examination of Mechanisms (E‐Mechanic) of Exercise‐Induced Weight Compensation randomized control trial, which randomized 198 overweight and obesity adults (21–65 years old; 74% female; 34% African American) to a no‐exercise control or one of two exercise groups for 6 months. BMI and weight were measured at baseline, 4 weeks, and the end of the study. Neighborhood food environment was measured as healthy food availability using the Nutrition Environment Measures Survey‐Stores (NEMS) tool, which quantified the availability, quality, and price of food within neighborhood food stores. Neighborhoods were categorized as low, medium, or high (tertiles) on healthy food availability. Change in BMI and weight from baseline were regressed against neighborhood healthy food availability in a multilevel repeated‐measures model, controlling for age, sex, race, and socioeconomic status. Results Change in BMI and weight in the no‐exercise group were moderated by living in a neighborhood with high healthy food availability. Specifically, participants who did not receive either of the exercise interventions and resided in neighborhoods with high healthy food availability saw significant increases in BMI (LS‐means: 0.33±0.13, p=0.01) and weight (LS‐means: 0.90±0.36, p=0.01) during the study. However, those participants assigned to either of the exercise interventions did not demonstrate a significant moderating effect of the neighborhood food environment on change in BMI and weight. Conclusions High healthy food availability was associated with increased BMI and weight for no‐exercise participants. This unexpected finding could indicate that greater availability of healthy foods may also mean greater access to food, both healthy and unhealthy, in general. We also note that we do not account for actual dietary patterns or consumption or other aspects of the neighborhood environment that may be important for health behaviors. The failure of neighborhood food environment to moderate response to the exercise interventions indicates that health promotion programs that incorporate physical activity and exercise are one potential way to limit the negative effects of neighborhood food environment on body mass. Support or Funding Information 1 F32 HL123242; R01 HL102166; 1 U54 GM104940