Built Environment Correlates of Diabetes and Obesity: Methodology

Background: A city’s planning, design, and construction can have a profound influence on health, specifically on non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and obesity, which are often referred to as “diabesity.” This study describes the designs and methods to understand the relationship between food and physical activity environments on diabesity. Materials and Methods: This study was a community-based cross-sectional door-to-door survey conducted as part of a large National Institute of Health and Care Research-funded surveillance project. For this study, two wards in Chennai were selected randomly. In each ward, five community enumeration blocks were selected using systematic random sampling technique. A consecutive sampling approach was used to select the study participants. Two categories of data were collected: (1) health data and (2) built environment (BE) data. Health and lifestyle questionnaires, anthropometric, and biochemical data were collected from all the study participants. For categorizing BE, an online questionnaire was developed using the KoBo toolbox to collect information about food and physical activity environments, as well as geographic locations. Expected Outcome: This study is expected to reveal data on the relationship between food and physical activity environments and diabesity. It will help policy-makers to understand the importance of access to healthy foods and spaces for physical activity in prevention and control of diabesity. It can also enable community-based interventions to improve health outcomes and help urban planners to plan cities that promote active lifestyles for its residents.