Jessie X Fan1, Ming Wen2, Lori Kowaleski-Jones3. 1. Department of Family and Consumer Studies, University of Utah, 225 S 1400 E, AEB 228, Salt Lake City, UT 84112-0080, USA. Electronic address: fan@fcs.utah.edu. 2. Department of Sociology, University of Utah, 380 S 1530 E, Rm 301, Salt Lake City, UT 84112-0250, USA. Electronic address: ming.wen@soc.utah.edu. 3. Department of Family and Consumer Studies, University of Utah, 225 S 1400 E, AEB 228, Salt Lake City, UT 84112-0080, USA. Electronic address: lk2700@fcs.utah.edu.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: We tested three alternative hypotheses regarding the relationship between income inequality and individual risk of obesity at two geographical scales: U.S. Census tract and county. METHODS: Income inequality was measured by Gini coefficients, created from the 2000 U.S. Census. Obesity was clinically measured in the 2003-2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). The individual measures and area measures were geo-linked to estimate three sets of multi-level models: tract only, county only, and tract and county simultaneously. Gender was tested as a moderator. RESULTS: At both the tract and county levels, higher income inequality was associated with lower individual risk of obesity. The size of the coefficient was larger for county-level Gini than for tract-level Gini; and controlling income inequality at one level did not reduce the impact of income inequality at the other level. Gender was not a significant moderator for the obesity-income inequality association. CONCLUSIONS: Higher tract and county income inequality was associated with lower individual risk of obesity, indicating that at least at the tract and county levels and in the context of cross-sectional data, the public health goal of reducing the rate of obesity is in line with anti-poverty policies of addressing poverty through mixed-income development where neighborhood income inequality is likely higher than homogeneous neighborhoods.
OBJECTIVES: We tested three alternative hypotheses regarding the relationship between income inequality and individual risk of obesity at two geographical scales: U.S. Census tract and county. METHODS: Income inequality was measured by Gini coefficients, created from the 2000 U.S. Census. Obesity was clinically measured in the 2003-2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). The individual measures and area measures were geo-linked to estimate three sets of multi-level models: tract only, county only, and tract and county simultaneously. Gender was tested as a moderator. RESULTS: At both the tract and county levels, higher income inequality was associated with lower individual risk of obesity. The size of the coefficient was larger for county-level Gini than for tract-level Gini; and controlling income inequality at one level did not reduce the impact of income inequality at the other level. Gender was not a significant moderator for the obesity-income inequality association. CONCLUSIONS: Higher tract and county income inequality was associated with lower individual risk of obesity, indicating that at least at the tract and county levels and in the context of cross-sectional data, the public health goal of reducing the rate of obesity is in line with anti-poverty policies of addressing poverty through mixed-income development where neighborhood income inequality is likely higher than homogeneous neighborhoods.
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