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The changing nature of how children engage with their physical environment is one factor in the dramatic increase in childhood overweight. Children today are engaging much less with the world outside their homes in terms of physical activity and much more in terms of eating. Technological innovations in media have contributed to these changes, keeping children inside and sedentary during more of their playtime and exposing them to highly coordinated advertising campaigns. But researchers are increasingly looking to technology for solutions to understand how children interact with their built environments and to make changes that promote healthy living. This article reviews many of these innovations, including the use of geospatial technologies, accelerometers, electronic food and travel diaries, and video games to promote physical activity and healthy eating. It also explores some of the other possibilities for harnessing the potential of technology to combat the childhood overweight epidemic.

The changing nature of how children engage with their physical environment is one factor in the dramatic increase in childhood overweight. Children today are engaging much less with the world outside their homes in terms of physical activity and much more in terms of eating. Technological innovations in media have contributed to these changes, keeping children inside and sedentary during more of their playtime and exposing them to highly coordinated advertising campaigns. But researchers are increasingly looking to technology for solutions to understand how children interact with their built environments and to make changes that promote healthy living. This article reviews many of these innovations, including the use of geospatial technologies, accelerometers, electronic food and travel diaries, and video games to promote physical activity and healthy eating. It also explores some of the other possibilities for harnessing the potential of technology to combat the childhood overweight epidemic. [Reprinted by permission of Sage Publications Inc., copyright 2007 The American Academy of Political and Social Science.]

The changing nature of how children engage with their physical environment is one factor in the dramatic increase in childhood overweight. Children today are engaging much less with the world outside their homes in terms of physical activity and much more in terms of eating. Technological innovations in media have contributed to these changes, keeping children inside and sedentary during more of their playtime and exposing them to highly coordinated advertising campaigns. But researchers are increasingly looking to technology for solutions to understand how children interact with their built environments and to make changes that promote healthy living. This article reviews many of these innovations, including the use of geospatial technologies, accelerometers, electronic food and travel diaries, and video games to promote physical activity and healthy eating. It also explores some of the other possibilities for harnessing the potential of technology to combat the childhood overweight epidemic.

An estimated 17.6 million American households were food insecure in 2012, meaning they were unable to obtain enough food for an active and healthy life. Programs to augment local access to healthy foods are increasingly widespread, with unclear effects on food security. At the same time, the US government has recently enacted major cuts to federal food assistance programs. In this study, we examined the association between food insecurity (skipping or reducing meal size because of budget), neighborhood food access (self-reported access to fruits and vegetables and quality of grocery stores), and receipt of food assistance using the 2008, 2010, and 2012 waves of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Household Health Survey. Of 11,599 respondents, 16.7 % reported food insecurity; 79.4 % of the food insecure found it easy or very easy to find fruits and vegetables, and 60.6 % reported excellent or good quality neighborhood grocery stores. In our regression models adjusting for individual- and neighborhood-level covariates, compared to those who reported very difficult access to fruits and vegetables, those who reported difficult, easy or very easy access were less likely to report food insecurity (OR 0.62: 95 % CI 0.43–0.90, 0.33: 95 % CI 0.23–0.47, and 0.28: 95 % CI 0.20–0.40). Compared to those who reported poor stores, those who reported fair, good, and excellent quality stores were also less likely to report food insecurity (OR 0.81: 95 % CI 0.60–1.08, 0.58: 95 % CI 0.43–0.78, and 0.43: 95 % CI 0.31–0.59). Compared to individuals not receiving food assistance, those receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits were significantly more likely to be food insecure (OR 1.36: 95 % CI 1.11–1.67), while those receiving benefits from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) (OR 1.17: 95 % CI 0.77–1.78) and those receiving both SNAP and WIC (OR 0.84: 95 % CI 0.61–1.17) did not have significantly different odds of food insecurity. In conclusion, better neighborhood ...