No fear here

As contributing authors to a recently published research article cited in the Spokesman-Review on Aug. 28, we wanted to provide a disclaimer to the misleading headline – “Childhood Obesity Link? Parental Fear.”

This work explored the relationship between elementary schools’ neighborhood social and built environmental factors, such as density of arterial roads, healthy food access, and walkability, with obesity. Past research has demonstrated a relationship between these factors and the physical and emotional health of youth. Proximity to healthy food options and the walkability of neighborhoods are associated with lower BMI.

Research has demonstrated parental decisions about how their children get to school are affected by neighborhood safety related to crime as well as transportation. Although we did evaluate neighborhood crime, we did not measure parent fear, as suggested by the article’s headline.

The Spokesman-Review plays an important role in widening community awareness of important local issues. The finding that our children’s obesity levels are associated with the neighborhoods in which they live and/or go to school is a call to action. We must address these environmental factors if we want to see our children thrive, both now and as they grow.

Bob Lutz, Ofer Amram, Solmaz Amiri, Anna Crowley, Pablo Monsivais

Spokane