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- Title
Widening socio-economic disparities in early childhood obesity in Los Angeles County after the Great Recession.
- Authors
Nobari, Tabashir Z; Whaley, Shannon E; Crespi, Catherine M; Prelip, Michael L; Wang, May C
- Abstract
<bold>Objective: </bold>While economic crises can increase socio-economic disparities in health, little is known about the impact of the 2008-09 Great Recession on obesity prevalence among children, especially low-income children. The present study examined whether socio-economic disparities in obesity among children of pre-school age participating in a federal nutrition assistance programme have changed since the recession.<bold>Design: </bold>A pre-post observational study using administrative data of pre-school-aged programme participants from 2003 to 2014. Logistic regression was used to examine whether the relationship between obesity prevalence (BMI≥95th percentile of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's growth charts) and three measures of socio-economic status (household income, household educational attainment, neighbourhood-level median household income) changed after the recession by examining the interaction between each socio-economic status measure and a 5-year time-period variable (2003-07 v. 2010-14), stratified by child's age and adjusted for child's sociodemographic characteristics.<bold>Setting: </bold>Los Angeles County, California, USA.<bold>Subjects: </bold>Children aged 2-4 years (n 1 637 788) participating in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children.<bold>Results: </bold>The magnitude of the association of household income and household education with obesity increased after 2008-09 among 3- and 4-year-olds and 2- and 3-year-olds, respectively. However, the magnitude of the association of neighbourhood-level median household income with obesity did not change after 2008-09.<bold>Conclusions: </bold>Disparities in obesity by household-level socio-economic status widened after the recession, while disparities by neighbourhood-level socio-economic status remained the same. The widening household-level socio-economic disparities suggest that obesity prevention efforts should target the most vulnerable low-income children.
- Subjects
LOS Angeles County (Calif.); CHILDHOOD obesity; INCOME; PREVENTION of obesity; GREAT Recession, 2008-2013; SOCIOECONOMIC factors; PRESCHOOL children; FOOD relief
- Publication
Public Health Nutrition, 2018, Vol 21, Issue 12, p2301
- ISSN
1368-9800
- Publication type
journal article
- DOI
10.1017/S1368980018000666