IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v15y2018i4p619-d138487.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

‘Obesogenic’ School Food Environments? An Urban Case Study in The Netherlands

Author

Listed:
  • Joris Timmermans

    (Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, Princetonlaan 8a, 3584 CB Utrecht, The Netherlands)

  • Coosje Dijkstra

    (Department of Health Sciences, Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, VU-University, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands)

  • Carlijn Kamphuis

    (Department of Interdisciplinary Social Science, Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Utrecht University, Heidelberglaan 1, P.O. Box 80140, 3508 TC Utrecht, The Netherlands)

  • Marlijn Huitink

    (Department of Health Sciences, Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, VU-University, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands)

  • Egbert Van der Zee

    (Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, Princetonlaan 8a, 3584 CB Utrecht, The Netherlands)

  • Maartje Poelman

    (Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, Princetonlaan 8a, 3584 CB Utrecht, The Netherlands)

Abstract

(1) Background: This study aimed to explore and define socio-economic (SES) differences in urban school food environments in The Netherlands. (2) Methods: Retail food outlets, ready-to-eat products, in-store food promotions and food advertisements in public space were determined within 400 m walking distance of all secondary schools in the 4th largest city of The Netherlands. Fisher’s exact tests were conducted. (3) Results: In total, 115 retail outlets sold ready-to-eat food and drink products during school hours. Fast food outlets were more often in the vicinity of schools in lower SES (28.6%) than in higher SES areas (11.5%). In general, unhealthy options (e.g., fried snacks, sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB)) were more often for sale, in-store promoted or advertised in comparison with healthy options (e.g., fruit, vegetables, bottled water). Sport/energy drinks were more often for sale, and fried snacks/fries, hamburgers/kebab and SSB were more often promoted or advertised in lower SES areas than in higher SES-areas. (4) Conclusion: In general, unhealthy food options were more often presented than the healthy options, but only a few SES differences were observed. The results, however, imply that efforts in all school areas are needed to make the healthy option the default option during school time.

Suggested Citation

  • Joris Timmermans & Coosje Dijkstra & Carlijn Kamphuis & Marlijn Huitink & Egbert Van der Zee & Maartje Poelman, 2018. "‘Obesogenic’ School Food Environments? An Urban Case Study in The Netherlands," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-14, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:15:y:2018:i:4:p:619-:d:138487
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/4/619/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/4/619/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Davis, B. & Carpenter, C., 2009. "Proximity of fast-food restaurants to schools and adolescent obesity," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 99(3), pages 505-510.
    2. Christina Vogel & Daniel Lewis & Georgia Ntani & Steven Cummins & Cyrus Cooper & Graham Moon & Janis Baird, 2017. "The relationship between dietary quality and the local food environment differs according to level of educational attainment: A cross-sectional study," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(8), pages 1-16, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Catalina Londoño-Cañola & Gemma Serral & Julia Díez & Alba Martínez-García & Manuel Franco & Lucía Artazcoz & Carlos Ariza, 2022. "Retail Food Environment around Schools in Barcelona by Neighborhood Socioeconomic Status: Implications for Local Food Policy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-12, December.
    2. Morentho Cornelia Phetla & Linda Skaal, 2023. "Scanning for Obesogenicity of Primary School Environments in Tshwane, Gauteng, South Africa," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(19), pages 1-13, October.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Adamopoulou, Effrosyni & Olivieri, Elisabetta & Triviza, Eleftheria, 2024. "Eating habits, food consumption, and health: The role of early life experiences," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 166(C).
    2. Laura Seliske & William Pickett & Rebecca Bates & Ian Janssen, 2012. "Field Validation of Food Service Listings: A Comparison of Commercial and Online Geographic Information System Databases," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 9(8), pages 1-7, July.
    3. Asirvatham, Jebaraj & Thomsen, Michael R. & Nayga, Rodolfo M. & Goudie, Anthony, 2019. "Do fast food restaurants surrounding schools affect childhood obesity?," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 124-133.
    4. Michael L. Anderson & David A. Matsa, 2011. "Are Restaurants Really Supersizing America?," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 3(1), pages 152-188, January.
    5. Abrahamsson, Sara & Bütikofer, Aline & Karbownik, Krzysztof, 2023. "Swallow This: Childhood and Adolescent Exposure to Fast Food Restaurants, BMI, and Cognitive Ability," CEPR Discussion Papers 18213, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    6. Kumcu, Aylin & Okrent, Abigail M ., 2014. "Methodology for the Quarterly Food-Away-From-Home Prices Data," Technical Bulletins 184292, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    7. Lin Lin & Xueming (Jimmy) Chen & Anne Vernez Moudon, 2021. "Measuring the Urban Forms of Shanghai’s City Center and Its New Districts: A Neighborhood-Level Comparative Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-18, July.
    8. Philip Gleason & Ronette Briefel & Ander Wilson & Allison Hedley Dodd, "undated". "School Meal Program Participation and Its Association with Dietary Patterns and Childhood Obesity," Mathematica Policy Research Reports c1c533c65a3d4883a9b227c21, Mathematica Policy Research.
    9. Hunt Allcott & Rebecca Diamond & Jean-Pierre Dubé & Jessie Handbury & Ilya Rahkovsky & Molly Schnell, 2019. "Food Deserts and the Causes of Nutritional Inequality," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 134(4), pages 1793-1844.
    10. Dolton, Peter J. & Tafesse, Wiktoria, 2022. "Childhood obesity, is fast food exposure a factor?," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 46(C).
    11. Hall, Brian J. & Huang, Lei & Yi, Grace & Latkin, Carl, 2021. "Fast food restaurant density and weight status: A spatial analysis among Filipina migrant workers in Macao (SAR), People's Republic of China," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 269(C).
    12. Kovacs, Viktoria Anna & Messing, Sven & Sandu, Petru & Nardone, Paola & Pizzi, Enrica & Hassapidou, Maria & Brukalo, Katarzyna & Tecklenburg, Ernestine & Abu-Omar, Karim, 2020. "Improving the food environment in kindergartens and schools: An overview of policies and policy opportunities in Europe," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    13. Chang, Hung-Hao & Meyerhoefer, Chad D., 2019. "Inter-brand competition in the convenience store industry, store density and healthcare utilization," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 117-132.
    14. Hamrick, Karen & Okrent, Abigail, 2014. "Timing is Everything: The Role of Time and the Business Cycle in Fast-Food Purchasing Behavior in the United States," 2014 Annual Meeting, July 27-29, 2014, Minneapolis, Minnesota 170156, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    15. Kolodinsky, Jane M. & Battista, Geoffrey & Roche, Erin & Lee, Brian H.Y. & Johnson, Rachel K., 2017. "Estimating the effect of mobility and food choice on obesity in a rural, northern environment," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 30-39.
    16. Pemjean, Isabel & Hernández, Paula & Mediano, Fernanda & Corvalán, Camila, 2024. "How are intra-household dynamics, gender roles and time availability related to food access and children's diet quality during the Covid-19 lockdown?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 345(C).
    17. Julia Woodhall-Melnik & Flora I Matheson, 2017. "More than convenience: the role of habitus in understanding the food choices of fast food workers," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 31(5), pages 800-815, October.
    18. Cesare Canalia & Maria Gabriela M. Pinho & Jeroen Lakerveld & Joreintje D. Mackenbach, 2020. "Field Validation of Commercially Available Food Retailer Data in the Netherlands," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(6), pages 1-16, March.
    19. Philippe Batifoulier & Denis Abecassis & Nicolas da Silva & Victor Duchesne & Léonard Moulin, 2016. "L’utilité sociale de la dépense publique," CEPN Working Papers hal-01421197, HAL.
    20. Jue Wang & Mei-Po Kwan, 2018. "An Analytical Framework for Integrating the Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Environmental Context and Individual Mobility in Exposure Assessment: A Study on the Relationship between Food Environment Exposu," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-24, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:15:y:2018:i:4:p:619-:d:138487. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.