Abstract:In this study we consider the health implications of the sequencing of a college degree vis-à-vis familial roles during the transition to adulthood. We hypothesize that people who earned a college degree before assuming familial roles will have better health than people who earned a college degree afterwards. To test this hypothesis, we focus on obesity and use data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Results show that marriage before completion of college was associated with a 50% highe… Show more
“…Fourth, while our models adjusted for adolescent entry into adult social roles prior to age 18 to account for potential selection effects into educational pathways, sample size limitations precluded us from further refining educational pathways by timing of transitions into and out of these adult social roles, but efforts to do so may help advance our understanding of the mechanisms linking educational pathways to health behavior. For example, recent work by Miech and colleagues (2015) finds that the sequencing of a college degree in relation to the sequencing of marriage and parenthood is associated with obesity; entering these social roles prior to college completion increased young adults’ risk for obesity. These findings raise the intriguing possibility that the timing of these role transitions may be an additional explanation for why educational pathways were related to early adult health behavior in our sample, beyond timing of exposure to the college environment.…”
An increasing number of U.S. adults are progressing through college in
decidedly more complex ways. Little is known, however, about how this growing
heterogeneity may be associated with the health behaviors and ultimately health
of young adults. Using a life course perspective, we investigate whether and why
different educational pathways – that is, variation in when people
attend and complete school – are associated with daily smoking and binge
drinking among U.S. young adults. We use 14 waves (1997–2011) of data
from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 cohort (n=7,359)
that enable us to identify the most common educational pathways, as well as
their association with young adult health behaviors. Bachelor’s degree
recipients who enrolled immediately after high school but did not attain their
degree within 4 years were more likely to smoke daily in early adulthood (i.e.,
ages 26 to 32) than those who enrolled in college immediately after high school
and attained a bachelor’s degree within 4 years. Conversely,
bachelor’s degree recipients who delayed college enrollment were less
likely to binge drink in early adulthood than individuals who enrolled in
college immediately after high school and attained a bachelor’s degree
within 4 years. Marital status and household income in young adulthood accounted
for some of the relationships between educational pathways and health behavior.
These findings highlight the complexity of education’s relationship to
health behavior and strongly suggest that heterogeneity in educational pathways
should be explicitly examined in population health research. Word Count: 241
“…Fourth, while our models adjusted for adolescent entry into adult social roles prior to age 18 to account for potential selection effects into educational pathways, sample size limitations precluded us from further refining educational pathways by timing of transitions into and out of these adult social roles, but efforts to do so may help advance our understanding of the mechanisms linking educational pathways to health behavior. For example, recent work by Miech and colleagues (2015) finds that the sequencing of a college degree in relation to the sequencing of marriage and parenthood is associated with obesity; entering these social roles prior to college completion increased young adults’ risk for obesity. These findings raise the intriguing possibility that the timing of these role transitions may be an additional explanation for why educational pathways were related to early adult health behavior in our sample, beyond timing of exposure to the college environment.…”
An increasing number of U.S. adults are progressing through college in
decidedly more complex ways. Little is known, however, about how this growing
heterogeneity may be associated with the health behaviors and ultimately health
of young adults. Using a life course perspective, we investigate whether and why
different educational pathways – that is, variation in when people
attend and complete school – are associated with daily smoking and binge
drinking among U.S. young adults. We use 14 waves (1997–2011) of data
from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 cohort (n=7,359)
that enable us to identify the most common educational pathways, as well as
their association with young adult health behaviors. Bachelor’s degree
recipients who enrolled immediately after high school but did not attain their
degree within 4 years were more likely to smoke daily in early adulthood (i.e.,
ages 26 to 32) than those who enrolled in college immediately after high school
and attained a bachelor’s degree within 4 years. Conversely,
bachelor’s degree recipients who delayed college enrollment were less
likely to binge drink in early adulthood than individuals who enrolled in
college immediately after high school and attained a bachelor’s degree
within 4 years. Marital status and household income in young adulthood accounted
for some of the relationships between educational pathways and health behavior.
These findings highlight the complexity of education’s relationship to
health behavior and strongly suggest that heterogeneity in educational pathways
should be explicitly examined in population health research. Word Count: 241
“…Further understanding may also be gained by investigating education over the life course and when degrees are obtained, particularly the effects of normative and non-normative timing of educational attainment. Initial research in this area suggests that contextualizing education’s effects is fruitful; Miech et al (2015) report that those who marry before rather than after college completion are more likely to become obese. Future research aiming to understand the social determinants of health should include multiple measures of educational experience, not just attainment levels.…”
Researchers have extensively documented a strong and consistent education gradient for mortality, with more highly educated individuals living longer than those with less education. This study contributes to our understanding of the education-mortality relationship by determining the effects of years of education and degree attainment on mortality, and by including nondegree certification, an important but understudied dimension of educational attainment. We use data from the mortality-linked restricted-use files of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) sample (N=9,821) and Cox proportional hazards models to estimate mortality risk among U.S. adults. Results indicate that more advanced degrees and additional years of education are associated with reduced mortality risk in separate models, but when included simultaneously, only degrees remain influential. Among individuals who have earned a high school diploma only, additional years of schooling (beyond 12) and vocational school certification (or similar accreditation) are both independently associated with reduced risks of death. Degrees appear to be most important for increasing longevity; the findings also suggest that any educational experience can be beneficial. Future research in health and mortality should consider including educational measures beyond a single variable for educational attainment.
“…For example, problematizing “obese” and “overweight” bodies not only allows sociologists to engage in fatphobia but, in the name of “health,” advance xenophobia, racism, and classism, too. Because noncritical articles took for granted what constituted “healthy” and “unhealthy” behaviors and that “obesity” was a disease and a major public health crisis, sociologists could express concern about the “problematic behaviors” of immigrants, people of color, and/or people of lower socioeconomic status (SES), insinuating people in these social groups were more likely to be “obese” because they did not know what was “good” for them when it came to health behaviors and weight management (Miech et al., 2015). As Pampel (2012) writes with regards to socioeconomic status and body weight:High SES groups have educational advantages in understanding the health value of proper weight, diet, and exercise, and they more effectively apply knowledge about health to everyday behavior.…”
Section: Fatphobia and Ableism As Justification For Other Systems Of mentioning
Sociologists have contributed greatly to our understanding of how systems of oppression operate and work together to produce injustice. However, they have paid considerably less theoretical and empirical attention to fatphobia and ableism compared to some other systems of oppression. Worse yet, noncritical sociological research on fat bodies and disabled bodyminds has often contributed to the perpetuation of both. In this critical literature review of articles on disability and body size in the three highest ranking sociology generalist journals and two medical sociology journals over the past 10 years, we illustrate the main consequences when sociologists fail to employ a critical approach to the study of fat bodies and disabled bodyminds, including their use of eugenical logic and language. We conclude by offering suggestions for how sociologists can do better moving forward.
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