Household density, television watching, and obesity in adults

More densely populated neighborhoods have a lower prevalence of obesity. It is unclear, however, to what degree a densely populated home is associated with obesity and obesity promoting behaviors. This study analyzed the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) data to determine whether household density was associated with obesity and television watching (TV) in adults age 18-30 yrs at inclusion into the CARDIA study. This analysis included data on 4022 Black and White women and men collected between 1990-1991. Household density (HD) was defined as the number of people living in the home per bedroom. Obesity was designated as a body mass index (BMI) ≥ 30 kg/m2. TV was measured in hours per day (h/d). Twenty-three percent of women and 16% of men were obese. Obesity was highest in Blacks (27%) compared to Whites (12%). HD was significantly correlated with BMI among White women (r=.18; p<.01) but not among Black women (r=.03; p=.31), White men (r=.02; p=.52) or Black men (r=-.03; p=.37). HD was correlated with TV in White (r=.09; p<.01) and Black women (r=.06; p<.05) but not in White men (r=.03; p=.43) or Black men (r=.04; p=.27). Logistic regression analysis among White women showed that HD was positively associated with risk of obesity (OR=1.72; 95%CI: 1.22-2.41) adjusting for age, family income, and TV. In contrast to the inverse association between neighborhood population density and the risk of obesity, our results suggest that HD may increase the risk of obesity but only among White women.