142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

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314737
Epidemiological and Longitudinal Study of Obesity in Young Males and the Transition to Fatherhood

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Tuesday, November 18, 2014 : 1:00 PM - 1:15 PM

Craig Garfield, MD , Departments of Pediatrics and Medical Social Sciences, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL
Greg Duncan, PhD , Department of Education, University of California - Irvine, Irvine, CA
Anna Gutina, BA , School of Medicine, University of Illinois - Chicago, Chicago, IL
Joshua Rutsohn, MPH , Department of Medical Social Sciences, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL
Thomas McDade, PhD , Department of Anthropology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL
Emma Adam, PhD , School of Education and Social Policy, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL
Rebekah Coley, PhD , School of Education, Boston College, Boston, MA
P. Lindsay Chase-Lansdale, PhD , School of Education and Social Policy, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL
Background: To examine overweight/obesity in young males over time as they transition to fatherhood in a nationally representative, longitudinal sample.

 

Methods: We combined all 4 waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to support a 20-year longitudinal analysis of 10,623 men and then created a "fatherhood-year" data set, calculating the odds of being overweight or obese based on fatherhood status (non-father, non-residence, residence), fatherhood-years, and covariates to determine associations between being overweight or obese on fatherhood life course intervals.

Results: While all three groups start adolescence with similar odds of overweight/obesity, during late adolescence, non-fathers have the largest increase in their odds of obesity/overweight (OR=1.24), whereas men who will become resident fathers have a lower odds of being overweight/obese compared to these non-fathers (OR=0.80) with a slow decrease in their overall odds of overweight/obesity during this time period (OR=0.99).  After the transition to fatherhood, however, non-resident fathers have an increase in odds of overweight/obesity compared to non-fathers (OR=1.29) with an overall increase (OR=1.07) in the first five years of fatherhood while non-fathers of similar age and resident fathers show a decrease in odds (OR=0.83; 0.95).

Conclusions: In this longitudinal, population-based study, young men’s overweight/obesity is related to their fatherhood status, with resident fathers having decreased odds and non-resident fathers increased odds during the transition to fatherhood. Designing obesity prevention interventions for young men that carry through young adulthood would target the distinctive needs of these populations, potentially improving their health outcomes and those of the entire family.

Learning Areas:

Epidemiology
Public health or related public policy
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
Describe the effect of fatherhood status and fatherhood years on young men's overweight/obesity in a nationally representative, longitudinal dataset spanning 20 years.

Keyword(s): Men’s Health, Obesity

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have been a principal investigator on multiple federally funded grants focusing on epidemiology of fathers and fatherhood, young men's health, and the interaction of fathers and families and children.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

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