Obesity among American adolescents: effects of racial, socioeconomic, neighborhood, and immigration status

Abstract

The main objectives of this dissertation were: to study relationships between neighborhood characteristics such as access to parks, playgrounds, recreational facilities, libraries, housing condition, walk ability, neighborhood hygiene and safety and obesity among adolescents aged from twelve to seventeen years; and to examine the physical and social impact of these factors on obesity among adolescents. One of the main objectives of the dissertation was to examine the neighborhood, physical and social activity effects on obesity problems among immigrant adolescents. Therefore, the main purpose of the study was to investigate whether immigration status, neighborhood conditions, and socioeconomic status affect obesity among adolescents The National Survey of Children’s Health, 2007 was used for the study. This was a nationwide dataset that included information on multiple aspects of children’s lives. Adolescents surveyed were between ages 12-17 and were comprised of 36,284 respondents; 52.27% of them were males. About 69.9% of the adolescents were Whites, followed by 10.3% Hispanics, 10.2% Blacks , 4.8% Multi-racial , and 4.4% Others. In addition, 9% of the mothers and 9.9% of fathers and 3.8% of the children were not born in the United States. Most of neighborhood factors were significantly related to obesity among adolescents. There was a probability that 52% of adolescents who were obese lived in neighborhoods with rundown housing; 52% lived in neighborhoods with garbage on the street; 48% lived in neighborhoods with no parks or playgrounds; and 47% lived in neighborhoods with no libraries. In addition, there was a probability that 44% of obese adolescents lived in neighborhoods where people did not help each other; 48% lived in neighborhoods where parents could not trust neighbors; and 45% lived in unsafe neighborhoods. Moreover, 31% of adolescents who did earn money, 46.9% who watched TV and played videos more than four hours a week, 47% who did not get involved in community service, and 29% who did not exercise at least 20 minutes more than four days a week, and 28 % who were not on a sports team or taking sports lessons were obese or overweight. All racial and ethnic groups were positively related to higher BMI scores except Whites. U.S. born adolescents were more likely to be overweight or obese than immigrant adolescents. However, Hispanic and Black immigrants were more likely to be obese than other immigrant adolescents. The policy significance of these findings are described and discussed in detail.