IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v78y2013icp34-41.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Education and obesity at age 40 among American adults

Author

Listed:
  • Cohen, Alison K.
  • Rehkopf, David H.
  • Deardorff, Julianna
  • Abrams, Barbara

Abstract

Although many have studied the association between educational attainment and obesity, studies to date have not fully examined prior common causes and possible interactions by race/ethnicity or gender. It is also not clear if the relationship between actual educational attainment and obesity is independent of the role of aspired educational attainment or expected educational attainment. The authors use generalized linear log link models to examine the association between educational attainment at age 25 and obesity (BMI≥30) at age 40 in the USA's National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 cohort, adjusting for demographics, confounders, and mediators. Race/ethnicity but not gender interacted with educational attainment. In a complete case analysis, after adjusting for socioeconomic covariates from childhood, adolescence, and adulthood, among whites only, college graduates were less likely than high school graduates to be obese (RR = 0.69, 95%CI: 0.57, 0.83). The risk ratio remained similar in two sensitivity analyses when the authors adjusted for educational aspirations and educational expectations and analyzed a multiply imputed dataset to address missingness. This more nuanced understanding of the role of education after controlling for a thorough set of confounders and mediators helps advance the study of social determinants of health and risk factors for obesity.

Suggested Citation

  • Cohen, Alison K. & Rehkopf, David H. & Deardorff, Julianna & Abrams, Barbara, 2013. "Education and obesity at age 40 among American adults," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 34-41.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:78:y:2013:i:c:p:34-41
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2012.11.025
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953612007836
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2012.11.025?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Molarius, A. & Seidell, J.C. & Sans, S. & Tuomilehto, J. & Kuulasmaa, K., 2000. "Educational level, relative body weight, and changes in their association over 10 years: An international perspective from the WHO MONICA Project," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 90(8), pages 1260-1268.
    2. Brian A. Jacob & Tamara Wilder, 2010. "Educational Expectations and Attainment," NBER Working Papers 15683, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Tarani Chandola & Paul Clarke & J. N. Morris & David Blane, 2006. "Pathways between education and health: a causal modelling approach," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 169(2), pages 337-359, March.
    4. Rehkopf, David H. & Jencks, Christopher & Glymour, M. Maria, 2010. "The association of earnings with health in middle age: Do self-reported earnings for the previous year tell the whole story?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(3), pages 431-439, August.
    5. Catherine Ross & John Mirowsky, 1999. "Refining the association between education and health: The effects of quantity, credential, and selectivity," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 36(4), pages 445-460, November.
    6. Jennifer Montez & Robert Hummer & Mark Hayward, 2012. "Educational Attainment and Adult Mortality in the United States: A Systematic Analysis of Functional Form," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 49(1), pages 315-336, February.
    7. Heather Brown, 2011. "Marriage, Bmi, And Wages: A Double Selection Approach," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 58(3), pages 347-377, July.
    8. Arnaud Chevalier, 2004. "Parental Education and Child’s Education - A Natural Experiment," Working Papers 200414, School of Economics, University College Dublin.
    9. Burkhauser, Richard V. & Cawley, John, 2008. "Beyond BMI: The value of more accurate measures of fatness and obesity in social science research," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 519-529, March.
    10. Barro, Robert J. & Lee, Jong Wha, 2013. "A new data set of educational attainment in the world, 1950–2010," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 184-198.
    11. Backlund, Eric & Sorlie, Paul D. & Johnson, Norman J., 1999. "A comparison of the relationships of education and income with mortality: the national longitudinal mortality study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 49(10), pages 1373-1384, November.
    12. Gordon-Larsen, Penny & Harris, Kathleen Mullan & Ward, Dianne S. & Popkin, Barry M., 2003. "Acculturation and overweight-related behaviors among Hispanic immigrants to the US: the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 57(11), pages 2023-2034, December.
    13. David M. Cutler & Adriana Lleras-Muney, 2006. "Education and Health: Evaluating Theories and Evidence," NBER Working Papers 12352, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Ross, Catherine E. & Mirowsky, John, 2006. "Sex differences in the effect of education on depression: Resource multiplication or resource substitution?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(5), pages 1400-1413, September.
    15. Lisa L. Barnes & Robert S. Wilson & Liesi E. Hebert & Paul A. Scherr & Denis A. Evans & Carlos F. Mendes de Leon, 2011. "Racial Differences in the Association of Education With Physical and Cognitive Function in Older Blacks and Whites," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 66(3), pages 354-363.
    16. Joseph J. Sabia, 2007. "The Effect of Body Weight on Adolescent Academic Performance," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 73(4), pages 871-900, April.
    17. Quesnel-Vallée, Amélie & Taylor, Miles, 2012. "Socioeconomic pathways to depressive symptoms in adulthood: Evidence from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(5), pages 734-743.
    18. Keane, Michael P & Wolpin, Kenneth I, 2001. "The Effect of Parental Transfers and Borrowing Constraints on Educational Attainment," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 42(4), pages 1051-1103, November.
    19. Ettner, S.L. & Grzywacz, J.G., 2003. "Socioeconomic status and health among Californians: An examination of multiple pathways," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 93(3), pages 441-444.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Barr, Peter B. & Salvatore, Jessica E. & Maes, Hermine & Aliev, Fazil & Latvala, Antti & Viken, Richard & Rose, Richard J. & Kaprio, Jaakko & Dick, Danielle M., 2016. "Education and alcohol use: A study of gene-environment interaction in young adulthood," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 158-167.
    2. Liu, S.Y. & Walter, S. & Marden, J. & Rehkopf, D.H. & Kubzansky, L.D. & Nguyen, T. & Glymour, M.M., 2015. "Genetic vulnerability to diabetes and obesity: Does education offset the risk?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 150-158.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Massimiliano Bratti & Alfonso Miranda, 2010. "Non‐pecuniary returns to higher education: the effect on smoking intensity in the UK," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 19(8), pages 906-920, August.
    2. Pradeep Kumar Choudhury, 2015. "Explaining the Role of Parental Education in the Regional Variations in Infant Mortality in India," Asia and the Pacific Policy Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 2(3), pages 544-572, September.
    3. Jennifer Karas Montez & Kaitlyn Barnes, 2016. "The Benefits of Educational Attainment for U.S. Adult Mortality: Are they Contingent on the Broader Environment?," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 35(1), pages 73-100, February.
    4. Elizabeth M. Lawrence & Richard G. Rogers & Anna Zajacova, 2016. "Educational Attainment and Mortality in the United States: Effects of Degrees, Years of Schooling, and Certification," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 35(4), pages 501-525, August.
    5. Lê, Félice & Diez Roux, Ana & Morgenstern, Hal, 2013. "Effects of child and adolescent health on educational progress," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 57-66.
    6. Bethany Everett & David Rehkopf & Richard Rogers, 2013. "The Nonlinear Relationship Between Education and Mortality: An Examination of Cohort, Race/Ethnic, and Gender Differences," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 32(6), pages 893-917, December.
    7. von Hinke Kessler Scholder S, 2009. "Genetic Markers as Instrumental Variables: An Application to Child Fat Mass and Academic Achievement," Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers 09/25, HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York.
    8. Sarrias, Mauricio & Blanco, Alejandra, 2022. "Bodyweight and human capital development: Assessing the impact of obesity on socioemotional skills during childhood in Chile," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 47(C).
    9. Baum II, Charles L. & Ruhm, Christopher J., 2009. "Age, socioeconomic status and obesity growth," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 635-648, May.
    10. Pierre Levasseur & Luis Ortiz-Hernandez, 2017. "How does childhood obesity affect school achievement? Contributions from a qualitative analysis implemented in Mexico City," Cahiers du GREThA (2007-2019) 2017-21, Groupe de Recherche en Economie Théorique et Appliquée (GREThA).
    11. Fahr, René, 2006. "The Wage Effects of Social Norms: Evidence of Deviations from Peers’ Body-Mass in Europe," IZA Discussion Papers 2323, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. Leonardo Becchetti & Pierluigi Conzo & Fabio Pisani, 2018. "Education and health in Europe," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(12), pages 1362-1377, March.
    13. Hafifa Siddiq & Babak Najand, 2022. "Immigration Status, Socioeconomic Status, and Self-Rated Health in Europe," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-12, November.
    14. Cutler, David M. & Lleras-Muney, Adriana, 2010. "Understanding differences in health behaviors by education," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 1-28, January.
    15. Grant Johnston, 2004. "Healthy, wealthy and wise? A review of the wider benefits of education," Treasury Working Paper Series 04/04, New Zealand Treasury.
    16. Dursun, Bahadır & Cesur, Resul & Mocan, Naci, 2018. "The Impact of Education on Health Outcomes and Behaviors in a Middle-Income, Low-Education Country," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 94-114.
    17. Elliot M. Friedman & Elizabeth Teas, 2023. "Self-Rated Health and Mortality: Moderation by Purpose in Life," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(12), pages 1-14, June.
    18. Zakharenko, Roman, 2018. "Dead men tell no tales: how the Homo sapiens became Homo economicus," MPRA Paper 90643, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. Wang, Weidong & Dong, Yongqing & Liu, Xiaohong & Bai, Yunli & Zhang, Linxiu, 2020. "The effect of parents’ education on the academic and non-cognitive outcomes of their children: Evidence from China," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    20. Sze Yan Liu & Jennifer J Manly & Benjamin D Capistrant & M Maria Glymour, 2015. "Historical Differences in School Term Length and Measured Blood Pressure: Contributions to Persistent Racial Disparities among US-Born Adults," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(6), pages 1-13, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:78:y:2013:i:c:p:34-41. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.