Economic Cycles and Childhood Obesity in the US

INTRODUCTION Economic environment can affect households' food choices and individuals' body weight status. This study aims to examine the relationship between economic cycles and American children's obesity risk.

METHODS: Data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Program—Kindergarten Class of 1998-1999 (ECLS-K) was merged with Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) by state and county. ECLS-K is a nationally representative panel study in the U.S. that followed 21,387 kindergarten children in 1998 until 2007. The body mass index (BMI) was defined as weight [kg] / height2 [m2]. Obesity was defined as BMI ≥ 95th percentile in the growth chart. We used the state and county annual unemployment rates to measure the economic cycles. We used fixed effects linear and logistic models. Individual demographics and household socioeconomic status were controlled. The analyses were separated by state and county unemployment rates due to multicollinearity.

RESULTS: Worse economic conditions caused greater BMI and higher risk of obesity among American children. With the outcome as BMI, the coefficient of the county unemployment rate was 0.033 (Odds Ratio [OR] = 1.03, p = 0.01), while the coefficient of the state unemployment rate was 0.013 (OR = 1.01, p = 0.63). With the outcome as obesity risk, the coefficient of the county unemployment rate was 0.045 (OR = 1.05, p = 0.02), while the coefficient of the state unemployment rate was 0.01 (OR = 1.01, p = 0.89).

DISCUSSION: American children had a greater risk of obesity during economic downturns and were significantly affected by local economic conditions.