# Geospatial food access as a driver of environmental oxidant stressors and early obesity

> **NIH NIH K23** · NEW YORK UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE · 2024 · $261,811

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in obesity begin early in life. Excessive caloric imbalance in
pregnancy is a leading suspected contributor to early weight disparities. Yet, prior studies have not accounted
for how limited food access may also drive chemical and psychosocial exposures that influence developmental
cardiovascular and metabolic programming to increase early childhood obesity risk. This Mentored Patient-
Oriented Research Career Development K23 proposal investigates how geospatial food access and
environmental oxidant stressors contribute to childhood obesity, a serious public health challenge and priority
of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Simultaneously, it will prepare the candidate, Carol
Duh-Leong, MD, MPP, to become an independent investigator who will address neighborhood disparities that
influence the social and chemical context of early child obesity. This study leverages longitudinal data from the
NYU Children’s Health and Environment Study, a participating birth cohort (50% Hispanic, 8% Asian, 7%
Black; 57% Public Insurance) in the NIH ECHO program that follows pregnant people prenatally and their
children postnatally through early childhood. The candidate proposes to geocode participant home addresses
and food environment data to longitudinally model joint relationships among geospatial food access,
environmental oxidant stressors, and early childhood obesity outcomes. Specific aims are: 1) Examine whether
limited geospatial food access increases phthalate and bisphenol exposures in pregnancy; 2) Examine
relationships between limited geospatial food access, psychosocial stressors, and oxidative stress in
pregnancy; and 3) Evaluate joint effects of geospatial food access and environmental oxidant stressors across
pregnancy and infancy on early childhood obesity outcomes. Closing this gap in knowledge would inform built
environment investments and neighborhood strategies to interrupt environmental oxidant stressors and
decrease obesity risk through the life course. Through the execution of these aims, the candidate will pursue
the following mentored training goals: 1) Advanced geospatial analysis; 2) Environmental exposure and
biomarker assessment; 3) Longitudinal analysis and environmental mixture modeling. This proposal draws
upon world-class clinical, research, and teaching resources available at NYU Grossman School of Medicine for
the candidate’s research and training aims. The candidate has assembled an expert mentorship team of
content experts in environmental epidemiology, geospatial analysis, exposure and biomarker assessment, and
advanced statistical methods to guide her research and training. This team will provide on-site training tailored
to the proposed research aims and will guide the candidate’s transition to independence and her establishment
of a research program that applies an interdisciplinary life course approach towards understanding the soc...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10908606
- **Project number:** 5K23ES035461-02
- **Recipient organization:** NEW YORK UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
- **Principal Investigator:** Carol Duh-Leong
- **Activity code:** K23 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $261,811
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-08-17 → 2027-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10908606

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10908606, Geospatial food access as a driver of environmental oxidant stressors and early obesity (5K23ES035461-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10908606. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*