An extensive body of research exists on environmental influences on weight-related behaviors in young people. Existing reviews aimed to synthesize this body of work, but generally focused on specific samples, behaviors or environmental influences and integration of findings is lacking.
- The authors reviewed 18 reviews representing 671 unique studies, aiming to identify what environmental factors do and do not affect physical activity and dietary behaviors in children and adolescents. Eleven reviews focused exclusively on physical activity, six on diet, and one review focused on both physical activity and dietary behaviors with only small overlap in included studies.
- Physical activity was more consistently related to school and neighborhood characteristics than to interpersonal and societal environments. In contrast, interpersonal factors played a pronounced role in dietary behaviors; no school, neighborhood or societal factors were consistently related to dietary behaviors.
- This review of reviews adds to the literature by providing a comprehensive synthesis of factors related to physical activity and dietary behaviors that could be targeted in interventions. Moreover, by identifying factors that are unrelated to physical activity and dietary behaviors, this review may help to narrow the scope of future studies and environmental interventions.
de Vet, E., de Ridder, D.T., de Wit, J.B. (2011). Environmental Correlates of Physical Activity and Dietary Behaviors among Young People: A Systematic Review of Reviews. Obesity Reviews: An Official Journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity 12(5):e130–142.
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