# Neighborhood deprivation and early childhood obesity: Characterizing longitudinal pathways & identifying multilevel mediators and moderators

> **NIH NIH K01** · NEW YORK UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE · 2020 · $156,430

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Obese children are more likely to become obese adults who are at greater risk for heart disease and early
death, and children from low-income families are at greater risk for developing obesity. Some work has linked
neighborhood characteristics and obesity in children, but little is known about the longitudinal effects (and
mechanisms) of neighborhood deprivation on the weight trajectories of low-income children. Moreover, few
studies have incorporated neighborhood, family, and individual level factors to understand the complex and
multilevel pathways leading to childhood obesity. Understanding these processes early in childhood is critical
as the early emergence of obesity can set the trajectory for life long health risks. My long-term goal is to work
as an independent researcher investigating multilevel influences on child health and development, with a focus
on obesity, to inform preventive interventions and population health strategies. This K01 Mentored Research
Scientist Development Award will fill critical training gaps in childhood obesity, neighborhood analysis, the
intersection of self-regulation and health, and translational research. My dedicated and expert team of mentors
at the NYU School of Medicine and Columbia University will oversee my training activities including structured
mentorship meetings; mentor-guided instruction; participation in seminars and workshops; hands-on learning;
and coursework. The complementary set of research studies will identify longitudinal associations of
neighborhood deprivation with early childhood body mass index (BMI) trajectories and determine the ways in
which children’s family and neighborhood social context and executive function skills moderate or mediate
these associations in both rural and urban contexts. My primary hypothesis is that greater neighborhood
deprivation will predict greater weight gain in early childhood and that children’s social context and executive
function will shape this relation. To test this hypothesis, I will first identify longitudinal effects of neighborhood
deprivation on children’s BMI trajectories in a rural low-income sample. Second, I will determine how social
context factors at the neighborhood (e.g. safety, collective socialization, and geographic isolation) and family
(e.g. income and education) levels moderate relations of neighborhood deprivation to BMI trajectories. Third, I
will characterize the ways in which children’s executive function skills mediate and moderate relations of
neighborhood deprivation to BMI trajectories. Finally, I will replicate these analyses in a high-poverty urban
sample of children. This project takes an innovative, interdisciplinary approach and is the first to examine the
complex ways in which neighborhood deprivation, social context, and executive function predict children’s BMI
trajectories. Through these research and training experiences I will transition to an independent researcher and
will be prepar...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9966023
- **Project number:** 5K01HL138114-03
- **Recipient organization:** NEW YORK UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
- **Principal Investigator:** Alexandra Ursache
- **Activity code:** K01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $156,430
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-09-01 → 2023-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9966023

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9966023, Neighborhood deprivation and early childhood obesity: Characterizing longitudinal pathways & identifying multilevel mediators and moderators (5K01HL138114-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9966023. Licensed CC0.

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