Out-of-home eating plays an increasingly important role in the American diet and weight. This research studied out-of-home food environment and restaurant choices in one rural county of eastern Alabama, United States, and examined the impact on African American children’s weight status. A mixed methods approach was used in this study. Questionnaires were collected for 613 African American children at all four public elementary schools in the county. The healthfulness of restaurants was assessed with the Nutrition Environment Measures Survey-Restaurant (NEMS-R). An agent-based model integrated with Huff’s model was developed in order to examine family dining patterns with consideration for individual and community socio-demographics; restaurant location, size, and healthfulness; and the spatial dynamics between consumers and food retailers. We found that this model performed well, as evidenced by validation with the 2013–2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (p, 0.54–0.96), and by comparison with the original Huff model. Frequency of dining at low-quality full-service restaurants (r = 0.084; p <0.05) was associated with rural children’s body mass index (BMI) percentile. These findings may increase public awareness of the importance of family restaurant choices as well as the potential unhealthiness of full-service restaurants.

China’s rapid economic growth and social transitions have deteriorated environmental conditions and caused further public health issues in last three decades. This study examines the complex mechanisms of how socioeconomic transitions and physical environmental conditions impact public health, especially with respect to increasing cancer incidences in mainland China from a spatial-temporal perspective. Specifically, (1) spatial variations of seven types of cancer incidences were analyzed in relation to heavy metal emissions from industrial wastewater at the prefecture-level city scale from 2004 to 2009. Additionally; (2) spatial statistical methods were employed to explore the associations between health outcome, heavy metal emissions from industrial wastewater (arsenic, chromium, cadmium, mercury, lead), as well as socioeconomic transitions (industrialization, urbanization, globalization) and physical environmental factors (hydrology and vegetation coverage). Results showed a significant increase of cancer incidences between 2004 and 2009. Consistent with the spatial pattern of heavy metal emissions, cancer patient clusters were identified in both traditional industrial bases and newly industrialized economic zones, especially in major cities located at downstream watersheds, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenyang, and Wuhan. The results also revealed the double-edged effects of industrialization, economic growth, and urbanization on natural environment and human health. The findings provide informative knowledge of heavy metal pollution and cancer outbreaks in China and therefore offer valuable reference for authorities formulating regulations.

The increasing wildfire activity and rapid population growth in the wildland–urban interface (WUI) have made more Americans exposed to wildfire risk. WUI mapping plays a significant role in wildfire management. This study used the Microsoft building footprint (MBF) and the Montana address/structure framework datasets to map the WUI in Montana. A systematic comparison of the following three types of WUI was performed: the WUI maps derived from the Montana address/structure framework dataset (WUI-P), the WUI maps derived from the MBF dataset (WUI-S), and the Radeloff WUI map derived from census data (WUI-Z). The results show that WUI-S and WUI-P are greater than WUI-Z in the WUI area. Moreover, WUI-S has more WUI area than WUI-P due to the inclusion of all structures rather than just address points. Spatial analysis revealed clusters of high percentage WUI area in western Montana and low percentage WUI area in eastern Montana, which is likely related to a combination of factors including topography and population density. A web GIS application was also developed to facilitate the dissemination of the resulting WUI maps and allow visual comparison between the three WUI types. This study demonstrated that the MBF can be a useful resource for mapping the WUI and could be used in place of a national address point dataset.