Lee Hedwig, Harris Kathleen Mullan, Gordon-Larsen Penny
Department of Sociology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Popul Res Policy Rev. 2009 Aug 1;28(4):505-532. doi: 10.1007/s11113-008-9115-4.
Increasing obesity among Americans is a serious issue in the U.S., especially in the pediatric and young adult population. We use a longitudinal design to examine the relationship between childhood poverty/welfare receipt and obesity onset and continuity from adolescence into young adulthood using three waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. We include multiple measures of disadvantage that co-occur with poverty and model potential mediating mechanisms within a life course framework. We find a significant effect of poverty/welfare receipt in childhood on obesity outcomes for females, but not for males. However, other measures of socioeconomic disadvantage such as neighborhood poverty, and low parental education are related to obesity in both males and females. Poverty may impact female obesity through the mediating effects of physical activity, inadequate sleep, skipping breakfast and certain forms of parental monitoring, while race is an important confounder of poverty's influence. This paper highlights the important influence of poverty and other aspects of social disadvantage on obesity outcomes during this critical transition to adulthood. Implications of this research include physical activity and parenting interventions for low-income youth. In addition, governmental efforts should be made to increase physical activity opportunities in poor neighborhoods.
美国肥胖率不断上升是美国的一个严重问题，尤其是在儿童和青年人群体中。我们采用纵向设计，利用青少年健康全国纵向研究的三波数据，来考察儿童期贫困/福利领取与肥胖症的发病以及从青春期到青年期的持续性之间的关系。我们纳入了与贫困同时出现的多种不利因素衡量指标，并在生命历程框架内对潜在的中介机制进行建模。我们发现，儿童期贫困/福利领取对女性的肥胖症结果有显著影响，但对男性没有。然而，其他社会经济不利因素衡量指标，如邻里贫困和父母教育程度低，与男性和女性的肥胖症都有关联。贫困可能通过体育活动、睡眠不足、不吃早餐和某些形式的父母监督的中介作用影响女性肥胖症，而种族是贫困影响的一个重要混杂因素。本文强调了贫困和社会不利因素的其他方面在向成年期这一关键过渡阶段对肥胖症结果的重要影响。这项研究的意义包括针对低收入青年的体育活动和育儿干预措施。此外，政府应努力增加贫困社区的体育活动机会。
