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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Sharon Simonton, PhD, Center for Human Growth and Development, University of Michigan, 300 North Ingalls, 10th Floor, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-0406, (734) 763-0428, simonton@umich.edu, Siobán D. Harlow, PhD, Department of Epidemiology, University of Michigan, 109 Observatory St., 1018 SPH I, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2029, John Lynch, PhD, Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, McGill University, 1020 Pine Avenue West, Room 34B, Montreal, QC H3A 1A2, Canada, Trivellore Raghunathan, PhD, Department of Biostatistics, University of Michigan, 1420 Washington Heights, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2029, and George A. Kaplan, PhD, Center for Social Epidemiology and Population Health, University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, 1214 S. University, Ann Arbor, MI 48104.

Wealth is more unequally distributed than income in the United States. We examined associations between wealth and being overweight for black and white children aged 2-12. Data from the 1997 Child Development Supplement of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (N=2,074) were used to examine effects for fungible wealth (net worth, financial net worth, liquid wealth, and savings balance) and homeownership (ownership status, home value, and home equity). Logistic regression analyses, stratified by race and sex, were estimated for each wealth measure. Wealth had significant and independent effects on being overweight controlling for income, maternal education, family structure, and number of children. Patterns of association differed by gender. Home market value predicted overweight among boys: black boys living in houses valued below the median or in rental units had higher odds for overweight [odds ratio (OR) = 3.57, 95% confidence interval (95% CI):1.16, 11.04] while white boys living in houses valued below the median also had increased odds (OR: 3.26, 95% CI: 1.72-6.19). Measures of liquid wealth were associated with elevated odds for overweight among girls: no savings or a balance below median for black girls (OR: 2.49, 95% CI: 1.02-6.10) and financial net worth below median for white girls (OR: 2.15, 95% CI: 0.96-4.82). Effects for income and maternal education were attenuated for black children and non-significant for white children in models including wealth. Individual components of socioeconomic status are not interchangeable and may have differing effects on children's risk for being overweight across subgroups.

Learning Objectives:

(
• Understand the differences between household wealth and income. (
• Recognize the extent of wealth inequality in the U.S. and disparities in wealth holdings by race. (
• Understand that socioeconomic position (SEP) is a multi-dimensional construct and that individual components of SEP may capture differing mechanisms that may influence child overweight. (
• Know that the effects of individual components of SEP on child oiverweight may differ by gender and by race.

Keywords: Social Inequalities, Obesity

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered