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Cohort-based income gradients in obesity among U.S. adults
- Source :
- American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council. 30(2)
- Publication Year :
- 2017
-
Abstract
- Objectives No studies have focused on socioeconomic disparities in obesity within and between cohorts. Our objectives were to examine income gradients in obesity between birth-cohorts (inter-cohort variations) and within each birth-cohort (intra-cohort variations) by gender and race/ethnicity. Methods Our sample includes 56,820 white and black adults from pooled, cross-sectional National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (1971-2012). We fit a series of logistic hierarchical Age-Period-Cohort models to control for the effects of age and period, simultaneously. Predicted probabilities of obesity by poverty-to-income ratio were estimated and graphed for 5-year cohort groups from 1901-1990. We also stratified this relationship for four gender and racial/ethnic subgroups. Results Obesity disparities due to income were weaker for post-World War I and II generations, specifically the mid-1920s and the mid-1940s to 1950s cohorts, than for other cohorts. In contrast, we found greater income gradients in obesity among cohorts from the 1930s to mid-1940s and mid-1960s to 1970s. Moreover, obesity disparities due to income across cohorts vary markedly by gender and race/ethnicity. White women with higher income consistently exhibited a lower likelihood of obesity than those with lower income since early 1900s cohorts; whereas, black men with higher income exhibited higher risks of obesity than those with lower income in most cohorts. Conclusions Our findings suggest that strategies that address race and/or gender inequalities in obesity should be cognizant of significant historical factors that may be unique to cohorts. Period-based approaches that ignore life-course experiences captured in significant cohort-based experiences may limit the utility of policies and interventions.
- Subjects :
- Adult
Male
Cross-sectional study
Ethnic group
Psychological intervention
030209 endocrinology & metabolism
Social class
Cohort Studies
03 medical and health sciences
Young Adult
0302 clinical medicine
Sex Factors
Risk Factors
Genetics
Medicine
Humans
030212 general & internal medicine
Obesity
Socioeconomic status
Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Aged
business.industry
Middle Aged
medicine.disease
Nutrition Surveys
United States
Cross-Sectional Studies
Social Class
Socioeconomic Factors
Anthropology
Cohort
Income
Female
Anatomy
business
Demography
Cohort study
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 15206300
- Volume :
- 30
- Issue :
- 2
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....2e2b6499e2461a6ed266182407a39cc4