The Relationship between Ethnicity, Socioeconomic Factors and Overweight: The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health

Penny Gordon-Larsen, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Linda Adair, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Barry M. Popkin, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Obesity is a major public health issue, particularly among minority populations, contributing substantially to total U.S. mortality. Reducing racial/ethnic disparities in health is a major focus of U.S. public policy. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, we examined the relationship of family income and parental education to overweight and the extent to which race/ethnic differences in SES account for disparities in overweight prevalence in white, black, Hispanic and Asian teens. We project the effects on overweight prevalence of equalizing SES differences between groups. Keeping adolescents in their same environments and changing only family income/parental education had a limited effect on disparities in overweight prevalence. One can not assume that the benefits of increased SES found among white adults will transfer to other sex-age-ethnic groups. Our findings suggest that efforts to reduce ethnic disparities in overweight must look beyond income and education.