Poster #91 - Associations between early childhood exposure to family and neighborhood poverty and body mass index

• In Event: 1-115 - Poster Session 03
  In Poster Session: PS 03 Section - Family Context & Processes

Integrative Statement

Introduction: Obesity is a public health concern associated with risk for debilitating health problems, including cardiovascular disease and diabetes (Despres & Lemieux, 2006). Poverty is a known risk factor for obesity in childhood (Hernandez & Pressler, 2015) through adulthood (Senese et al., 2009). Some prior research suggests that poverty exposure in early childhood may be particularly detrimental and have lasting effects on adult weight However, researchers have infrequently attempted to disambiguate the relative influences of different aspects of poverty on weight outcomes, specifically family income and neighborhood deprivation. Such data could have important implications for understanding basic processes and identifying targets for prevention. Although income and neighborhood deprivation are moderately inter-correlated, each could exert influences on weight outcomes through different mechanisms. For example, neighborhood deprivation could influence weight by discouraging physical activity; low family income could restrict parents’ ability to provide healthy food options for children. The ways in which family income and neighborhood deprivation interact with each other to predict later weight also have not been examined. In addition, few studies have tested nonlinear relationships in the association between child poverty exposure and future weight, even though some theory suggests that children exposed to extreme poverty may be less at risk for overweight because of severely constrained incomes restricting the purchase of sufficient nutrition. Thus, the primary aims of the study are to examine independent and interactive associations between early exposure to family poverty and neighborhood deprivation in relation to later body mass index (BMI), assessed in middle childhood and early adulthood.
Methods: Data were collected from the Pitt Mother & Child Project, a longitudinal sample of 310 low-income, urban boys followed prospectively from age 18 months into early adulthood (age 23). A composite variable of neighborhood deprivation was calculated by averaging six census block group level variables (e.g., percent of families below the poverty line, percent of families receiving public assistance), geocoded based on participants’ addresses. BMI was assessed using a scale at age 11 and with self-report at age 23.
Results: Analyses suggest that the relationship between early neighborhood deprivation and BMI in middle childhood and early adulthood is quadratic in nature, with the highest BMI found at moderate levels of neighborhood deprivation. Neighborhood deprivation was also found to moderate the effect of early childhood family income on BMI outcomes in middle childhood, such that in the context of low neighborhood deprivation, low income was associated with higher BMI. In the context of high levels of neighborhood deprivation, higher income predicted higher BMI (see Figure). Additional analyses will also test the extent to which findings are specific to early childhood by comparing effects on BMI in the preschool and school-age periods.
Discussion: The current study is unique in its focus on testing relationships between early exposure to poverty and later BMI using an all-male, predominantly low-income sample. Our findings highlight the importance of considering two components of poverty—neighborhood deprivation and family income—and nonlinear models of transmission with respect to children’s and young adults’ health outcomes.

Authors

• Kate Adis Hails, University of Pittsburgh
  Presenting Author

• Daniel S. Shaw, University of Pittsburgh
  Non-Presenting Author