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Abstract

Objective: The primary objective of this study was to determine if inequities in growth trajectories measured by BMI between white and non-white groups have widened in school-aged children.

Methods: Data from the 1998 and 2010 kindergarten cohorts of the Early Longitudinal Childhood Study were analyzed for differences in growth rates by race/ethnicity. Sex-stratified, linear regression models that included a three-way interaction term between race/ethnicity, age, and cohort and controlled for age and socioeconomic status to determined whether inequities have changed significantly over time.

Results: Black/African American boys had an overall higher change in BMI per year of 1.04 kg/m2 compared to their white peers (CI:0.08,2.0;p<0.05) in the 2010 cohort. This higher slope in BMI per year was also the case for boys of two or more race/ethnicities [2.9 kg/m2 (CI:1.2,4.6;p<0.001)], Hispanic girls [0.95 kg/m2 (CI:0.3,1.6;p<0.01)], and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander girls [5.17 kg/m2 (CI:0.6,9.8;p<0.05)].

Conclusion: Inequities in BMI have widened in multiple non-white race/ethnicity groups of children compared to white children, specifically black/African American boys, boys of two or more race/ethnicities, Hispanic girls and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander girls. For other non-white groups, inequities have persisted from the 1998 to the 2010 cohort. Overall, we find that these differences in BMI between white and non-white groups should be cause for public health concern.

Details

Title
Have Inequities in BMI Widened in a Nationally Represented cohort of Kindergarteners?
Author
Yang, Alicia D
Publication year
2019
Publisher
ProQuest Dissertations & Theses
ISBN
9781088329238
Source type
Dissertation or Thesis
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2308262014
Copyright
Database copyright ProQuest LLC; ProQuest does not claim copyright in the individual underlying works.