Table 3.

Multilevel longitudinal growth models predicting mean weight-for-height z-score (WHZ) at age 3 (intercept) and change in WHZ (slope) among preschool-aged children participating in WIC in Los Angeles County (N=32,172 children)

Variable	Census tract		CT + 0.5 mile buffer		CT + 1 mile buffer
	B	p-value	B	p-value	B	p-value
PREDICTORS OF MEAN WHZ AT AGE 3
Child’s gender (ref = male)	−0.119	<.0001	−0.118	<.0001	−0.118	<.0001
Child’s race/ethnicity (ref=White)
Asian	−0.083	0.0518	−0.084	0.0489	−0.087	0.0419
Black/African American	−0.078	0.0398	−0.073	0.0555	−0.072	0.0565
Hispanic	0.234	<.0001	0.236	<.0001	0.236	<.0001
Maternal language preference (ref=English)
Spanish	−0.020	0.1160	−0.022	0.0906	−0.022	0.0853
Other	−0.060	0.1997	−0.063	0.1777	−0.065	0.1631
Maternal schooling (ref=≥high school)	0.030	0.0086	0.030	0.0083	0.030	0.0090
Family monthly income (ref = high [>$1,800])
Low (<$958)	0.035	0.0002	0.035	0.0002	0.034	0.0002
Middle ($958-1,800)	0.016	0.0246	0.016	0.0280	0.016	0.0284
Neighborhood median income (ref = high[>$50,557])
Low (<$32,460)	0.044	0.0226	0.026	0.1827	0.024	0.2094
Middle ($32,460-50,557)	0.019	0.2122	0.009	0.5516	0.011	0.4806
% high school graduates in neighborhood	−0.002	0.0003	−0.002	0.0002	−0.002	0.0001
Density of healthy food outlets 1	0.002	0.4187	−0.026	0.1141	−0.030	0.2746
Squared density of healthy food outlets			0.021	0.0014	0.045	0.0014
Density of unhealthy outlets 2	−0.001	0.1047	0.001	0.6552	−0.001	0.8458
PREDICTORS OF CHANGE IN WHZ WITH AGE (SLOPE)
Child’s age (years)	−0.007	0.7607	0.003	0.8968	0.003	0.8902
Gender (ref=male)	−0.001	0.8763	−0.001	0.8636	−0.001	0.8729
Race/ethnicity (ref=White)
Asian	−0.028	0.1966	−0.027	0.2078	−0.026	0.2168
Black/African American	−0.002	0.9183	−0.005	0.7991	−0.005	0.8010
Hispanic	−0.041	0.0124	−0.042	0.0095	−0.042	0.0106
Maternal language (ref=English)
Spanish	0.041	<.0001	0.041	<.0001	0.041	<.0001
Other	0.018	0.4302	0.021	0.3645	0.023	0.3247
Maternal schooling (ref=≥high school)	−0.005	0.3848	−0.005	0.3742	−0.005	0.3817
Family monthly income (ref = high [>$1,800])
Low (<$958)	−0.023	0.0045	−0.023	0.0051	−0.023	0.0054
Middle ($958-1,800)	−0.009	0.1821	−0.008	0.2088	−0.009	0.1998
Neighborhood median income (ref = high[<$50,557])
Low (<$32,460)	−0.003	0.7697	0.004	0.6649	0.002	0.8097
Middle ($32,460-50,557)	−0.021	0.0067	−0.016	0.0419	−0.016	0.0326
% high school graduates in neighborhood	<0.001	0.1077	<0.001	0.1034	<0.001	0.0842
Density healthy food outlets	<0.001	0.9767	−0.014	0.0035	−0.022	0.0102
Density unhealthy food outlets	0.001	0.1592	<0.001	0.8841	<0.001	0.9052

¹Healthy outlets include supermarkets and fruit and vegetable markets

²Unhealthy outlets include fast food outlets, chain convenience stores, and liquor stores