Effect of food environment on weight loss after bariatric surgery

The impact of food environment on weight loss after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass and sleeve gastrectomy in South Carolina is not well studied. Specifically, there is a lack of evidence in the Upstate region of South Carolina regarding the efficacy of weight loss surgery in patients who live in a poor food environment.

Assess the relationship between food environment after bariatric surgery.

South Carolina, USA.

Our study is a single-center, retrospective review of 134 postbariatric surgery patients. We determined patients' food environments using the Center for Disease Control modified retail food environment index (mRFEI) and the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control food desert map. We assessed weight loss using percent of total body weight loss (TBWL%).

We found no linear correlations between weight loss and food environment in bivariate analyses at 6 months (r = -.121; P = .165), 13 months (r = -.109; P = .275), 18 months (r = -.124; P = .326), or 36 months (r = -.331; P = .106) after bariatric surgery. At 24 months, there was a low negative correlation between weight loss and food environment (r = -.302; P = .041). In repeated measures multivariate analysis, adjusting for age, sex, race, payor status, and type of surgery, we found no statistically significant association between mRFEI and TBWL% (P = .214).

Our data suggest there is no significant association between weight loss after bariatric surgery and living in an area with poor access to healthy food retailers. This study supports bariatric surgery as an effective method for weight loss regardless of patients' food environment.