BACKGROUND: Previous studies have shown race/ethnicity, particularly African American and/or Hispanic status, to be a predictor of overweight/obese status in children. However, these studies have failed to adjust for low socioeconomic status (SES). This study assessed whether race/ethnicity remained an independent predictor of childhood obesity when accounting for variations in SES (low-income) among communities in Massachusetts. METHODS: This study was based on 2009 summarized data from 68 Massachusetts school districts with 111,799 students in grades 1, 4, 7, and 10. We studied the relationship between the rate of overweight/obese students (mean = 0.32; range = 0.10-0.46), the rate of African American and Hispanic students (mean = 0.17; range = 0.00-0.90), and the rate of low-income students (mean = 0.27; range = 0.02-0.87) in two and three dimensions. The main effect of the race/ethnicity rate, the low-income rate, and their interaction on the overweight and obese rate was investigated by multiple regression modeling. RESULTS: Low-income was highly associated with overweight/obese status (p < 0.0001), whereas the effect of race/ethnicity (p = 0.27) and its interaction (p = 0.23) with low-income were not statistically significant. For every 1% increase in low-income, there was a 1.17% increase in overweight/obese status. This pattern was observed across all African American and Hispanic rates in the communities studied. CONCLUSIONS: Overweight/obese status was highly prevalent among Massachusetts students, varying from 10% to 46% across communities. Although there were higher rates of overweight/obese status among African American and Hispanic students, the relationship disappeared when controlling for family income. Our findings suggest low SES plays a more significant role in the nation's childhood obesity epidemic than race/ethnicity.
BACKGROUND: Previous studies have shown race/ethnicity, particularly African American and/or Hispanic status, to be a predictor of overweight/obese status in children. However, these studies have failed to adjust for low socioeconomic status (SES). This study assessed whether race/ethnicity remained an independent predictor of childhood obesity when accounting for variations in SES (low-income) among communities in Massachusetts. METHODS: This study was based on 2009 summarized data from 68 Massachusetts school districts with 111,799 students in grades 1, 4, 7, and 10. We studied the relationship between the rate of overweight/obese students (mean = 0.32; range = 0.10-0.46), the rate of African American and Hispanic students (mean = 0.17; range = 0.00-0.90), and the rate of low-income students (mean = 0.27; range = 0.02-0.87) in two and three dimensions. The main effect of the race/ethnicity rate, the low-income rate, and their interaction on the overweight and obese rate was investigated by multiple regression modeling. RESULTS: Low-income was highly associated with overweight/obese status (p < 0.0001), whereas the effect of race/ethnicity (p = 0.27) and its interaction (p = 0.23) with low-income were not statistically significant. For every 1% increase in low-income, there was a 1.17% increase in overweight/obese status. This pattern was observed across all African American and Hispanic rates in the communities studied. CONCLUSIONS: Overweight/obese status was highly prevalent among Massachusetts students, varying from 10% to 46% across communities. Although there were higher rates of overweight/obese status among African American and Hispanic students, the relationship disappeared when controlling for family income. Our findings suggest low SES plays a more significant role in the nation's childhood obesity epidemic than race/ethnicity.
Authors: Mia A Papas; Anthony J Alberg; Reid Ewing; Kathy J Helzlsouer; Tiffany L Gary; Ann C Klassen Journal: Epidemiol Rev Date: 2007-05-28 Impact factor: 6.222
Authors: L S Batey; D C Goff; S R Tortolero; M Z Nichaman; W Chan; F A Chan; J Grunbaum; C L Hanis; D R Labarthe Journal: Circulation Date: 1997-12-16 Impact factor: 29.690
Authors: Cynthia L Ogden; Margaret D Carroll; Lester R Curtin; Margaret A McDowell; Carolyn J Tabak; Katherine M Flegal Journal: JAMA Date: 2006-04-05 Impact factor: 56.272
Authors: T B Cotts; C S Goldberg; L M Palma Davis; J E Durussel-Weston; S M Aaronson; K Lin; K A Eagle Journal: Pediatr Cardiol Date: 2008-06-17 Impact factor: 1.655
Authors: Maida P Galvez; Kathleen McGovern; Catherine Knuff; Susan Resnick; Barbara Brenner; Susan L Teitelbaum; Mary S Wolff Journal: Acad Pediatr Date: 2013 Jan-Feb Impact factor: 3.107
Authors: Megan H Pesch; Andrea R Daniel; Alison L Miller; Katherine L Rosenblum; Danielle P Appugliese; Julie C Lumeng; Niko Kaciroti Journal: Appetite Date: 2019-11-04 Impact factor: 3.868
Authors: Shirley M Moore; Elaine A Borawski; Thomas E Love; Sarah Jones; Terri Casey; Sarah McAleer; Charles Thomas; Clara Adegbite-Adeniyi; Naveen K Uli; Heather K Hardin; Erika S Trapl; Matthew Plow; June Stevens; Kimberly P Truesdale; Charlotte A Pratt; Michael Long; Ann Nevar Journal: Pediatrics Date: 2019-06 Impact factor: 7.124
Authors: Junghyun Lim; Kirsten K Davison; Janine M Jurkowski; Christine M Horan; E John Orav; Neil Kamdar; Lauren G Fiechtner; Elsie M Taveras Journal: Child Obes Date: 2016-11-22 Impact factor: 2.992
Authors: Stanley N Caroff; Shirley H Leong; Daisy Ng-Mak; E Cabrina Campbell; Rosalind M Berkowitz; Krithika Rajagopalan; Chien-Chia Chuang; Antony Loebel Journal: Community Ment Health J Date: 2017-12-28
Authors: Cynthia Williams Brown; Dayna S Alexander; Claudia A Warren; Marian Anderson-Booker Journal: J Racial Ethn Health Disparities Date: 2016-06-22