Study Explores Neighborhood Changes on Obesity April 7, 2014 Yvonne Michael, ScD, SM, an associate professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, is the first author of an article entitled “Does change in the neighborhood environment prevent obesity in older women?” in Social Science and Medicine. Dr. Michael collaborated with colleagues from Portland, OR on this paper. Since currently the majority of studies associating neighborhood environment with obesity are cross-sectional and thus not appropriate for evaluating causality, the goal of the study discussed in this article was to evaluate the effect of a neighborhood-changing intervention on changes in obesity among older women over an 18-year study period. Based on the results of this study, the authors concluded that future research should consider the influence of the neighborhood environment on other relevant health outcomes, in addition to BMI and/or weight loss, and should include measures of the social environment in conjunction with built environment.
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