Neighborhood obesogenic environment and cardiometabolic risk in Brazilian children: The mediation role of the mother's body mass index

Objective We aimed to evaluate the association of neighborhood obesogenic and leptogenic environments with cardiometabolic risk clustering among Brazilian schoolchildren, mediated by child's ultra‐processed food consumption and the mother's body mass index (BMI). Methods A total of 367 children aged 8–9 years, enrolled in urban schools of Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil, were evaluated. Waist circumference, insulin resistance, blood pressure, high‐density lipoprotein‐cholesterol, and triglycerides concentrations were measured. The child's ultra‐processed food consumption assessment was performed by applying three 24‐hour dietary recall. The mother's weight and height values were used to calculate the BMI. The neighborhood income, walkability index, predominantly ultra‐processed food stores, public spaces for leisure, and/or physical activities, traffic accidents, crime, and green spaces densities were assessed in four hundred road network buffers around households. From neighborhood and cardiometabolic risk variables, four latent variables were obtained from confirmatory factor analysis: neighborhood “obesogenic”, and “leptogenic” environments; “high cardiometabolic risk,” and “low atherogenic risk”. A structural equation model was used to test the direct and indirect associations between neighborhood environment and cardiometabolic risk clusters. Results The neighborhood obesogenic environment had a significant total association (Standardized Coefficient = 0.172, p = .011) and was indirectly associated with the child's “high cardiometabolic risk” cluster, mediated by the mother's body mass index (Standardized Coefficient = 0.066, p = .049). Conclusions Our results reinforce the role of the urban environment on maternal obesity and child's cardiometabolic risk and provide evidence for public health policies aimed to prevent such conditions.