Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
Childhood obesity is a growing global public health concern, with food retail environments playing an important role in shaping dietary behaviours. However, limited research has explored the spatial distribution of fast-food outlets around schools in dense urban settings like Singapore. In this study, we performed an ecological study to examine the clustering of fast-food outlets around schools across administrative planning areas in Singapore. Geospatial analysis revealed that virtually all fast-food outlets were within 1,200 m of a school, whereas 90% of schools had at least one outlet within 800 m (approximately a 10-min walk). Schools had on average 4.77 fast-food outlets within this distance, with some areas exceeding nine. Analysis of variance showed that fast-food outlets were significantly closer to schools in lower-income neighbourhoods. Multivariate regression models showed a significant association between schools and fast-food outlet count in each town, independent of public transport accessibility, population density, and median household income, and valid for public but not international schools. There was also an inverse association between the number of fast-food outlets and median income of each neighbourhood. These findings highlight spatial inequalities in food environments and underscore the need for urban planning policies to mitigate obesogenic environments around schools in Singapore.
Mok et al. (Mon,) studied this question.