Public Housing Redevelopment and Childhood Obesity

Childhood obesity disproportionately affects low-income and racial-ethnic minority communities that tend to also have poor housing quality and obesogenic neighborhood environments. Yet, evidence on "whole-of-community" interventions that simultaneously improve housing, and neighborhood built and social environments, remains limited. This study examines the early impacts of a decade-long redevelopment of Jordan Downs (JD), a low-income public housing community in Watts, Los Angeles. We assessed effects on children's obesity 2 years in, when roughly one-third of the site was redeveloped with new housing and built- and social-environment improvements.

Using longitudinal data on a cohort of 399 children from JD and a nearby comparison group without redevelopment, we conducted difference-in-differences analyses. Primary outcomes were overweight/obesity, body mass index (BMI) z score, waist circumference, and waist-to-height ratio. Secondary outcomes included self-reported dietary, physical activity, and sedentary behaviors.

JD children experienced lesser increase in overweight/obesity prevalence (14.7 percentage points [pp] lesser; 95% CI: 4.4-25.1), BMI z score (0.15 lesser; 95% CI: 0.02-0.32), waist circumference (5% less; 95% CI: 1%-9%) and waist-to-height ratio (3.9% less; 95% CI: 0.1-7.7) than the comparison group. JD children consumed fewer sugar-sweetened beverages (1.13 fewer times per day; 95% CI: 0.09-2.17) and were more likely to be physically active in the neighborhood (18.2 pp more; 95% CI: 0.4-36.9) than the comparison group.

JD redevelopment was associated with a significantly lower increase in childhood obesity prevalence within its first 2 years.