Indirect Effect of Family Transitions on Change in Child BMI via SES: Variation by Race

• In Event: Poster Session 02
  In Poster Session: PS 02 Topic - Health, Growth, Injury

Abstract

Childhood obesity has become a global concern, as 13.9% of preschool-aged children (2-5 years old) and 18.4% of school-aged children (6-11 years old) are obese (CDC, 2017). The first few years of a child’s life are a critical period and experiencing early multiple stressors can impede development. Previous research indicates that children who do not live in a two-parent household are more likely to be obese (Amato, 2005; Augustine & Kimbro, 2015). Multiple changes in family structure can lead to a change in available resources, specifically a loss of income if there is an exit of a parental figure, and children of low socioeconomic status (SES) in the United States have been found to be at a higher risk for obesity (Wang, 2001). The purpose of the current study was to examine the indirect effect of multiple partner transitions on changes in children’s BMI percentile via SES. Given SES and the effects of some family processes on child outcomes vary systematically based on race/ethnicity (Buehler & Few-Demo, 2018), race /ethnicity was examined as a moderator.

Participants included 4,573 mothers and children from the Fragile Families and Child Well Being (FFCW) study. Changes in family structure were assessed via mother’s reports of marital status and residential partnerships from the time infants were one year old until they were five years old. Mothers reported total household income and highest education level when their child was five years old. Mother’s income and education were standardized and summed together to compute an overall SES variable. Change in child BMI percentile from age five to age nine was computed. Children who were classified as underweight were excluded.

A multigroup path analysis was conducted to compare coefficients across White (n = 999), Black (n = 2262), and Latinx (n = 1312) participants. Results suggested that the paths linking multiple family transitions to maternal SES, and SES to change in child BMI percentile was different by racial groups. Multiple family transitions were significantly negatively correlated with SES for all groups, but the magnitude was larger for White (β = -0.28, p < .01) , than for Black (β = -0.13, p < .01) or Latinx children (β = -0.07, p < .05). SES was significantly negatively associated with an increase in child BMI percentile among White children (β = -0.18, p < .01) only and not among Black (β = -0.03, p >.05) or Latinx children (β = -0.01, p >.05).

The findings illustrate that SES plays an important role in the relationship between multiple family transitions and change in children’s BMI percentile during a developmentally sensitive period for White children. Notably, SES was significantly higher among White families. Additional analyses will be conducted to formally compare variability in education, income, and sources of income between groups. It may be that interventions focused on further improving economic well-being among families of color has the potential to reduce child obesity rates and health disparities.

Authors

• Savannah A. Girod, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
  Presenting Author

• Mark Fine, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
  Non-Presenting Author

• Lauren Bailes, Vanderbilt University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Cheryl Buehler, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
  Non-Presenting Author

• Esther M. Leerkes, UNC Greensboro
  Non-Presenting Author