These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed


  • Title: Social determinants of disparities in weight among US children and adolescents.
    Author: Rossen LM, Talih M.
    Journal: Ann Epidemiol; 2014 Oct; 24(10):705-713.e2. PubMed ID: 25174287.
    Abstract:
    PURPOSE: To explore whether contextual variables attenuate disparities in weight among 18,639 US children and adolescents aged 2 to 18 years participating in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2001 to 2010. METHODS: Disparities were assessed using the Symmetrized Rényi Index, a new measure that summarizes disparities in the severity of a disease, as well as the prevalence, across multiple population groups. Propensity score subclassification was used to ensure covariate balance between racial and ethnic subgroups and account for individual-level and contextual covariates. RESULTS: Before propensity score subclassification, significant disparities were evident in the prevalence of overweight and/or obesity and the degree of excess weight among overweight/obese children and adolescents. After propensity score subclassification, racial/ethnic disparities in the prevalence and severity of excess weight were completely attenuated within matched groups, indicating that racial and ethnic differences were explained by social determinants such as neighborhood socioeconomic and demographic factors. CONCLUSIONS: The limited overlap in covariate distributions between various racial/ethnic subgroups warrants further attention in disparities research. The attenuation of disparities within matched groups suggests that social determinants such as neighborhood socioeconomic factors may engender disparities in weight among US children and adolescents.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]