Although recent research has shown that obesity rates are leveling off among children generally, a new study published in the American Journal of Public Health finds that obesity prevalence significantly increased among lower-income California teens between 2001 and 2007.
The study, which uses data from 17,535 adolescents interviewed by the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS), examined disparities in obesity prevalence by family income and gender. Center researchers, including Susan H. Babey, Theresa A. Hastert, Joelle Wolstein and Allison L. Diamant, found that obesity prevalence increased significantly among teens from low-income families whereas there were no significant changes in obesity prevalence among those from higher-income families. This trend held regardless of age, gender or race/ethnicity, but was more consistent among male adolescents than among female adolescents.
“The fact that we observed significant increases in disparities in obesity rates between adolescents from poor families and adolescents from higher-income families in California over a relatively short period of time (2001– 2007) is somewhat alarming,” the study’s authors noted, adding that “obesity prevention efforts may need to be adapted to better serve the needs of low-income adolescents.”
Babey, Diamant and Wolstein are also the co-authors of a recent Center policy brief on obesity and diabetes in California.
Read the journal article: Income Disparities in Obesity Trends Among California Adolescents