Obesity during the Transition to Adulthood: Exploring How Neighborhood Poverty Entries, Exits, and Traps Matter

• In Event: 150 - Regular Session. Health Disparities in Social Context

Abstract

How does neighborhood poverty during adolescence and young adulthood influence the likelihood of becoming or remaining obese by early adulthood versus remaining non-obese? Accumulation of risk, sensitive periods, and social mobility theories offer competing hypotheses as does research on the gendered nature in which neighborhoods are experienced. I test these hypotheses by analyzing data from 11,953 National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) Wave I and III participants and their neighborhoods. Individuals, and especially females, living in poor neighborhoods during adolescence and young adulthood are more likely to become obese by young adulthood or remain obese at both points relative to those who never live in poor neighborhoods. Neither entering nor exiting poor neighborhoods raises the odds of becoming obese, though the latter is linked to persistent obesity. Findings support the accumulation of risks perspective, particularly for young women, and highlight the importance of previous and contemporaneous neighborhood contexts.

Author

• Adam Matthew Lippert, Harvard University