Determining the relationship between physical environment and weight status

using Google Street View

Ketevan Glonti

Research Fellow - ECOHOST

Improving health worldwide

www.lshtm.ac.uk

Enhancing data capture in health research using digital technology

Obesogenic environment

• “The sum of influences that the surroundings, opportunities or conditions of life have on promoting obesity in individuals or populations”*

• All around us, with an impact on everyday behaviour, choices and health

* Swinburn, B., G. Egger, and F. Raza, Dissecting obesogenic environments: the development and application of a framework for identifying and prioritizing environmental interventions for obesity. Prev Med, 1999. 29(6 Pt 1): p. 563-70.

Obesogenic environments

• Another photo example of an obesogenic environment -supermarket

Obesogenic environments

SPOTLIGHT

• EU-funded project

• SPOTLIGHT – Sustainable Prevention of Obesity Through Integrated Strategies

• Addressing the social and environmental determinants of obesity

Measuring the obesogenic environmentacross European regions

ENVIRONMENT(objective measures)

SocialPhysical

ObesityINDIVIDUAL

Obesity related behaviorsEnvironmental perceptions

Neighbourhood audit Individual survey

Virtual audit OnlineAt neighbourhood level

Defining

neighbourhoods

9

2 CHARACTERISTICS

Residential density- A central component

of both urban sprawl and land use mix

- Percentage of coverage of buildings devoted to residential facilities

- Available at European level from the European Urban Atlas dataset

Median income (SES)

5 URBAN REGIONS

4 Types : Low / High Density X SES

Neighbourhood audit Individual survey

Virtual audit Online

In 5 European cities

Random selection

3 neighborhoods per typology

12 neighborhoods by region

Total: 60 neighborhoods

Sampling neighbourhoods

Field audit tools

• ANC (Active Neighborhood Checklist)

• Neighborhood Attributes Inventory

• PHDCN (Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods)

• NALP (Neighborhood Active Living Potential)

• SPACES (Systematic Pedestrian and Cycling Environmental Scan)

• NOC (Neighborhood Observational Checklist)

• HAN (Healthy Aging research Network Environmental Audit Tool)

• PEDS (Pedestrian Environmental Data Scan)

• REAT (Residential Environment Assessment Tool)

• WABSA (Walkability and Biking suitability Assessment)

• BESSC (Built Environment Site Survey Checklist)

• SSO (Systematic Social Observation Tool)

• EPOCH I (Environmental Profile of a Community’s Health)

Google Street View

• Launched in 2007

• Based on a mobile mapping system

• Collected using cameras on moving vehicles

• Panoramic and omnidirectional views at ‘eye-level’

• Easy to use

• Free

Google Street View

Virtual audits

Easy and free to use

especially in large areas

Time saved

especially travel time

Safe alternative

especially in unsafe

neighbourhoods

ADVANTAGES

Uncovered areas

Temporal variability: time of day, season, weather

Date of data collection (update)

Obstructed view

LIMITATIONS

Tool assesses 4 general areas:

• Characteristics of street design

• Land use

• Food outlets

• Recreational facilities (indoor/outdoor)

• 42 items

Virtual vs. Field audit

Presence Agreement

Walking related items 97 %

Cycling related items 94.4 %

Public transport 98.9 %

Aesthetics 87.3 %

Food outlets 99.9 %

Physical activity facilities 97.1 %

Overall 95.6 %

Bethlehem et al. Int J Health Geographics

2014

128 street segments 4 Dutch urban neighbourhoods

Virtual audit

The SPOTLIGHT Virtual Audit ToolGoogle Street View

Virtual Audit

Self-defined neighborhoods

25

“Please draw the boundaries of what you regard as your neighborhood on the map below”

Charreire et al. In preparation

Conclusions

• New tools and measures developed

To assess environmental characteristics potentially associated

with obesity

• Objective aspects (virtual audit)

• Perceptions (neighbourhood limits)

• Individual choices (mode of transport and food outlets)

• With the aim

– to refine our understanding of the interactions betweenenvironmental and individual influences in the development of obesity

– to design new strategies for interventions to address the issue of obesity at different scales in Europe

Thank you for your attention!

Questions?

Special thanks to all colleagues from the SPOTLIGHT team

Contact details:

ketevan.glonti@lshtm.ac.uk

Improving health worldwide

www.lshtm.ac.uk