Density of Fast Food Outlets around Educational Facilities in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Geospatial Analysis
AlQurashi, A. A., Kusuma, D. ORCID: 0000-0002-1909-9341, AlJishi, H. , AlFaiz, A. & AlSaad, A. (2021). Density of Fast Food Outlets around Educational Facilities in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Geospatial Analysis. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(12), article number 6502. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18126502
Abstract
Background: Childhood obesity remains a public health issue globally. The latest estimate from the World Health Organization showed that over 340 million children and adolescents aged 5–19 were overweight or obese in 2016. Objective: Our study aimed to assess the density of fast food outlets around educational facilities in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Methods: We employed geospatial and quantitative analyses using data on fast food outlets (from surveys conducted between November 2019 and May 2020) and educational facilities in Riyadh city. Data analyses conducted using ArcMap 10.6 and Stata 15 compared the density within 500 m and 500–1000 m from the facilities.
Results: We found a high density of fast food outlets around educational facilities. Nearly 80% of fast food were within twelve-minute walking or five-minute driving distances from schools, and nearly 70% of all educational facilities had at least one fast food outlet within the buffer. We also found the densities were high within both the areas closer and the areas farther away from educational facilities. In addition, the density was significantly higher around private schools compared to government schools, and the density around girls-only schools and both-gender schools was higher than that around boys-only schools.
Conclusion: There is a high density of fast food outlets around educational facilities in Saudi Arabia. Effective policies are needed to help reduce potential exposure to fast food among young people in Saudi Arabia and other countries with similar settings.
Publication Type: | Article |
---|---|
Additional Information: | This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Publisher Keywords: | density; fast food; outlets; schools; Saudi Arabia |
Subjects: | R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine > RA0421 Public health. Hygiene. Preventive Medicine R Medicine > RJ Pediatrics > RJ101 Child Health. Child health services |
Departments: | School of Health & Psychological Sciences > Healthcare Services Research & Management |
SWORD Depositor: |
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.
Download (1MB) | Preview
Export
Downloads
Downloads per month over past year