Department of General Practice, School of Medicine, Western Sydney University, Sydney, NSW 2751, Australia.
School of Medicine, Western Sydney University, Sydney, NSW 2751, Australia.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Dec 31;19(1):410. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19010410.
Obesity has become a public health challenge in every country on this planet, with a substantial contribution to global mortality and morbidity. Studies of the built environment have shown some promise in understanding the drivers of this obesity pandemic. This paper contributes to this knowledge, by focusing on one aspect of the urban environment and asking whether there is an association between commuting and obesity in residents of the Nepean Blue Mountains area on the fringes of Sydney. This is a cross-sectional study with obesity being the dependent variable, and commuting the independent variable, where 45 min or less was defined as local and distant commute was more than 45 min. In the sample of 158 respondents, the risk of obesity was twice as likely in the distant commuters than in the local commuters (OR 2.04, 95% CI 1.051 to 3.962, 0.034). Investigation of possible mediators of this association was limited by sample size; however, mode of transport was found to be a significant mediator. The results support the design of cities to provide health supporting environments for all residents, including equitable access to employment at a reasonable distance and effective public transport.
肥胖已成为全球每个国家的公共卫生挑战，对全球死亡率和发病率有重大影响。对建成环境的研究表明，在理解肥胖流行的驱动因素方面有一定的前景。本文通过关注城市环境的一个方面，探讨了在悉尼边缘的内佩恩蓝山地区居民中，通勤与肥胖之间是否存在关联，以此为这方面的知识做出贡献。这是一项横断面研究，肥胖是因变量，通勤是自变量，其中 45 分钟或更短的通勤时间定义为本地通勤，超过 45 分钟的通勤时间定义为远距离通勤。在 158 名受访者的样本中，远距离通勤者肥胖的风险是本地通勤者的两倍（OR 2.04，95%CI 1.051 至 3.962，P=0.034）。由于样本量有限，对这种关联的可能中介因素的调查受到限制；然而，发现交通方式是一个重要的中介因素。研究结果支持为所有居民设计提供健康支持环境的城市，包括在合理距离内公平获得就业机会和有效的公共交通。
