The built environment and obesity
We are evaluating the relation of the food, land use, physical activity and social environments, measured as features of communities, with body mass index by studying more than 160,000 children with a Geisinger primary care provider. We have funding from the National Institutes of Health as part of the Johns Hopkins Systems-oriented Childhood Obesity Center. This new center has three research projects, one of which is centered at Geisinger, and is applying mathematical modeling methods often used in engineering, such as complex dynamic systems and agent-based models, to the obesity epidemic in the region. In phase 2 of this work, we will complete more detailed measurements in both children and communities.