Poverty And Obesity: Low-Income Families More Likely To Be Obese

Previous research tracks higher obesity rates to black and Hispanic children. However, a closer look at communities shows that it's more about family income than race, alone, when it comes to health.

New findings published in the journal Childhood Obesity reveal that despite higher obesity rates among African-American and Hispanic children, this relationship disappears once lower family income is factored into the equation. The study results showed how children coming from lower-income families had fewer resources that helped them stay healthy, including recreational programs and parks, as well as access to full service grocery stores.

"The findings reveal differences in the inequalities in the physical and social environment in which children are raised," said senior author Kim A. Eagle, M.D., a cardiologist and director at the University of Michigan Frankel Cardiovascular Center, in a news release. "It illustrates that race and ethnicity in communities may not have a significant connection to obesity status once the community's income is considered."

During the study, researchers created a model based on data from 111,799 Massachusetts students. Researchers at the University of Michigan Health System found that as poverty rises, so did the rate of obesity among children in 68 of its public school districts.

Researchers specifically used data from the Michigan Clinical Outcomes Research and Report Program to determine student body mass index (BMI) screens that began in Massachuesetts schools in 2011. After looking at the school districts, researchers found that for every 1 percent increase in low-income status, there was a 1.17 percent increase in rates of both overweight/obese students. 

Then, to correlate community rates of childhood obesity with lower-income status, researchers found that the percentage of students who were overweight or obese was comparable to students in each district who were also eligible for free and reduced price lunches, food stamps or transitional aid--suggesting that low-income children as well as adolescents are at an increased risk of obeseity when compared to higher-income peers. 

"The battle to curb childhood obesity is critically tied to understanding its causes and focusing on the modifiable factors that can lead to positive health changes for each and every child," Eagle concluded.

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