Children staying in poor neighborhoods have increased obesity risk, new study shows.

The study, according to the researches, is the first to understand the impact of neighborhood-level poverty, family poverty and ethnicity on children's weight.

"The effects of neighborhood poverty on children's weight may be just as important as the effects of family poverty," stated study co-author, Cornell University's Gary W. Evans, the Elizabeth Lee Vincent Professor of Human Ecology. "Children and families are embedded in neighborhoods; poor neighborhoods differ structurally from wealthier neighborhoods, with fewer safe and natural places to play and exercise, fewer supermarkets and more fast food."

For the study, Evans along with Pamela Klebanov from Princeton University and Jeanne Brooks-Gunn from Columbia University examined the data of almost 1,000 children born with low birth weight. They took into account any changes in the children's body mass index (BMI) between the ages of two and six and a half years.

The study findings show that by the age of two, the low birth weight infants from poor neighborhoods already had BMIs that were higher than those from wealthier neighborhoods. The team also found that children living in poor areas reached adiposity rebound faster than their wealthier counterparts. Adiposity rebound typically happens between the ages of five and seven when BMI increases. Children who reach adiposity rebound faster have a higher risk of obesity.

After analyzing the effect of race, the researchers found that African-American children from poor neighborhoods were more likely to reach adiposity rebound faster. They were also more likely to have higher BMIs.

"Health disparities emerge early and shape lifelong health," Evans said. "Interventions need to address both the fundamental risk factors for pediatric obesity, such as poverty, chaotic living conditions and low parental education, as well as the mechanisms that appear to convey these risks, such as restricted access to healthy food, few safe and natural places to play, too much fast food, child food marketing and high levels of chronic stress."

The study, 'Poverty, ethnicity, and risk of obesity among low birth weight infants,' was published in the Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology.