Household socioeconomic status modifies the association between neighborhood SES and obesity in a nationally representative sample of first grade children in the United States

Abstract

Highlights We investigate household SES, neighborhood SES and childhood obesity. Sample was nationally representative of US first graders in 2011. Both SES variables–household and neighborhood SES–were associated with obesity. No evidence of greater prevalence of obesity due to low SES on both dimensions. In low SES neighborhoods, high household SES did not mitigate obesity prevalence. In low SES households, high neighborhood SES did not mitigate obesity prevalence.

The Impact of a Grocery Store Closure in One Rural Highly Obese Appalachian Community on Shopping Behavior and Dietary Intake

“…Improving dietary intake among rural and lower-income populations is a national priority. At the individual level of dietary intake, a host of proximal and distal factors influence purchasing habits and thus what is consumed [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. Specifically, among lower-income and rural communities, there is strong evidence to suggest that these neighborhoods often lack access to supercenters which constrains residents’ purchasing ability of affordable healthier food items [ 4 ].…”

Using Explainable Artificial Intelligence to Discover Interactions in an Ecological Model for Obesity

“…Discovery of interactions between economic or educational resources in the household and community is consistent with evidence showing associations between these metrics and obesity. Evidence of interactions between interpersonal and community factors supports the idea that youth with the same household economic and educational resources can have different obesity risk levels depending on the economic and educational resources in their neighborhood [ 34 ]. Though the mechanisms are not clear, lower levels of education and economic resources could cause differences in food availability or consumption in the home and neighborhood that promote eating habits that cause obesity [ 35 , 36 ].…”

Obesity Heterogeneity by Neighborhood Context in a Largely Latinx Sample

“…Thus, in line with our expectations, using a diverse sample and accounting for important comorbid conditions, we show that a child's neighborhood of residence independently associates with higher BMI z-scores. This could be driven by the overall higher incidence of overweight and obesity in the USA among Latinx youth, combined with compounding neighborhood-level determinants such as the absence of a health-promoting infrastructure that led to the greater prevalence of higher BMI [2][3][4][31][32][33][34][35][36][37].…”

“…Family-level, obesity-relevant factors include family physical activity, family mealtimes, food insecurity, and the income-to-need ratio [60][61][62]. The relationship among individual characteristics, in-home practices, and child obesity, however, is complicated by the influence of neighborhood-level descriptors [31][32][33][34][35][36][37]. For example, neighborhood median income modifies the association between a child's BMI z-score and proximity to fast-food restaurants [63].…”

“…Moreover, the neighborhood socioeconomic environment where Latinx children live influences body weight status, and neighborhoods with predominately racial/ethnic minority residents have higher levels of poverty and lower levels of education, which are independently associated with childhood obesity [29][30][31][32][33][34][35]. Notably, data indicate that living in either a low-SES household or a low-SES neighborhood is enough to increase the risk of child obesity [36]. Multiple domains of the social neighborhood environment also are relevant to the development of overweight and obesity [37].…”