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Household Composition, Income, and Body Mass Index Among Adults by Race/Ethnicity and Sex

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Abstract

Objective

Disparities in obesity highlight the need for an examination of determinants that may be uniquely experienced by race and sex. An understudied factor is household composition with the potential for variation in its obesogenic impacts. This study examines the association between household composition and body mass index (BMI) among Black, Hispanic, and White adults and determines whether income moderates these associations.

Methods

Using cross-sectional data from the 2011–2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, the number of children and adults aged ≥ 60 years in the household were reported among non-Hispanic Black and White adults as well as Hispanic adults aged 20–59 years old. Multivariable linear regressions were used to assess the associations between household composition and BMI with income as a potential moderator.

Results

Having multiple school-aged children was associated with higher BMI (β = 1.34, standard error (s.e.) = 0.50) among Hispanic men, while having older adults in the household was associated with lower BMI among Black women (β = − 3.21, s.e. = 1.42). Income moderated the associations between household composition and BMI among Black women and men. There were no associations between household composition and BMI in White women or men.

Conclusions

Future studies should further explicate the mechanisms of household composition that uniquely impact obesity outcomes among Black women and men by income. Efforts to address higher BMI among those with more young children in the household should target Hispanic men.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Social, Behavioral, and Population Sciences, School of Public Health & Tropical Medicine, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA

    Caryn N. Bell, M. Pia Chaparro & Katherine P. Theall

  2. Department of Nutritional Sciences, College of Agriculture, Health, and Natural Resources, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA

    Loneke T. Blackman Carr

  3. Field School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Courtney S. Thomas Tobin

  4. Mary Amelia Center for Women’s Health Equity Research, Tulane University School of Public Health & Tropical Medicine, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA

    Katherine P. Theall

Authors
  1. Caryn N. Bell
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  2. Loneke T. Blackman Carr
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  3. M. Pia Chaparro
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  4. Courtney S. Thomas Tobin
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Caryn N. Bell.

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Conflict of Interest

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Additional information

What is already known about this subject?

Parenthood is associated with obesity.

Race/ethnicity and sex differences in the association between parenthood and obesity.

Income is associated with obesity, but race/ethnicity and sex moderate this association.

What are the new findings in your manuscript?

Age and number of children in the household are associated with obesity among Black and Hispanic adults only.

Income moderated the association between household composition and BMI among Black women and men.

There were no associations between household composition and BMI among White women and men.

How might your results change the direction of research or the focus of clinical practice?

These results point to the need for race- and sex-specific analyses of the determinants of obesity. This approach as well as incorporating the role of family- and household-related characteristics should be included in weight loss interventions and obesity counseling.

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Bell, C.N., Blackman Carr, L.T., Chaparro, M.P. et al. Household Composition, Income, and Body Mass Index Among Adults by Race/Ethnicity and Sex. J. Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities 9, 1488–1499 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-021-01087-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-021-01087-4

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