GIS in the Study and Prevention of Childhood Obesity

Childhood obesity is an issue of growing concern to the public health community. GIS can be used to understand spatial patterns of obesity in our communities and assist in preventive planning. The links listed below are examples of how GIS has been used in the study and prevention of childhood obesity.

• Neighborhoods and Health: Building Evidence for Policy
  by Kathryn L.S. Pettit, G. Thomas Kingsley, and Claudia J. Coulton. Washington, D.C.:The Urban Institute, May 2003
• Indianapolis Site-Specific Neighborhood Health Analysis: Environmental Factors and Risk of Childhood Obesity
  [PDF-2.2 MB, 49 pages]
  Sharon Kandris, the Polis Center at IUPUI, and Gilbert Liu, Dept. of Pediatrics at Indiana University, 2003
• Resource Kit Helps Communities Combat Child Obesity
  Pam Kan-Rice, University of California, Agriculture and Natural Resources
  University of California Cooperative Extension, in cooperation with the California Fit WIC Project, has compiled a resource kit that encourages communities to take steps locally to help reverse the alarming trend toward childhood obesity. The kit includes detailed instructions on mapping community resources to fight childhood obesity.
• Overweight Students by Assembly Districts
  See the California Center for Public Health Advocacy site on overweight/underfit children by legislative district.