Contextual factors and weight change over time: A comparison between U.S. Hispanics and other population sub-groups

Abstract

In recent decades there has been an increasing interest in understanding the role of social and physical contexts in influencing health behaviors and outcomes. This is especially true for weight, which is considered to be highly dependent on environmental factors. The evidence linking neighborhood characteristics to weight in the United States, however, is mixed. Many studies in this area are hampered by cross sectional designs and a limited scope, insofar as they investigate only one dimension of neighborhood context. It is also unclear to what extent neighborhood characteristics account for racial/ethnic disparities in weight. Using longitudinal data from the Los Angeles Family and Neighborhood Survey (L.A. FANS), we compare patterns of weight change between Hispanics and other racial and ethnic groups in order to evaluate whether we observe a pattern of unhealthy assimilation in weight among Hispanic immigrants and to identify differences in the rate at which different groups gain weight over time. We also explore the extent to which patterns of weight change are related to a wider range of community characteristics. We find that weight increases across all groups between the two study waves of L.A. FANS and that the increases are significant except for Asian/Pacific Islanders. With respect to differences in the pace of weight change, second and higher generation Hispanic women and black men gain weight more rapidly than their first generation Hispanic counterparts. Although the evidence presented indicates that first generation Hispanics gain weight, we do not find evidence for convergence in weight since the U.S.-born gain weight at a more rapid rate. The inclusion of community-level variables does not alter the relationships between the race, ethnicity, and immigrant generation categories and weight change. Of the six types of community characteristics considered, only collective efficacy is consistently and significantly associated with weight change, although the protective effect of neighborhood collective efficacy is seen only among women.

Change in waist circumference with longer time in the United States among Hispanic and Chinese immigrants: the modifying role of the neighborhood built environment

“…However, residential environment characteristics likely contribute to variation in health patterning. Past research has linked census-derived measures of the environment to diet and anthropometric outcomes among immigrants though the evidence is mixed and the majority of studies, except for two [12, 25], are cross-sectional [18-21, 23, 24, 37]. In one longitudinal study that used built environment measures, neighborhood walkability was inversely associated with diabetes development in immigrants to Canada [26], consistent with our findings related to change in WC in Chinese immigrants.…”

“…The few studies available have reported cross-sectional associations between census tract-level foreign-born, linguistic, or Hispanic ethnic composition with healthier diets [18-20], less physical activity [20], and lower BMI [21] or higher BMI [22-24]. Only two longitudinal studies have investigated the role of contextual factors (census-derived measures of race/ethnic composition, population density, socioeconomic disadvantage; survey-based social environment measures) and change in body mass index (BMI) or waist circumference (WC) in samples including Hispanic immigrants [12, 25]. No studies to our knowledge have used food and activity-based measures of the neighborhood environment which may be more directly relevant to weight.…”

Racial/ethnic residential segregation and cardiovascular disease risk

“…As with black segregation studies, of the 16 Hispanic segregation studies included in this review, only one was longitudinal in design [45]. In addition, except for studies that examined mortality, all but one study relied on self-reported measures for outcomes [26].…”

Neighborhood Ethnic Composition, Spatial Assimilation, and Change in Body Mass Index Over Time Among Hispanic and Chinese Immigrants: Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis

“…36–38,40 Neighborhood immigrant composition was not associated with weight change in a longitudinal study of adults in Los Angeles. 39 Our analysis extends this previous, mostly cross-sectional, literature by incorporating information about residential moves and using a fixed-effects approach to tightly control for confounding by time-invariant individual characteristics.…”

“…36–41 Results have varied depending on the immigrant group examined or the composition measure used (e.g., percentage foreign-born, percentage Hispanic). 36–39 Moreover, the majority of previous evidence is cross-sectional and cannot investigate patterns of residential mobility, including spatial assimilation, that may affect weight over time. 42 Longitudinal studies are therefore crucial for understanding how neighborhood context may affect weight over time in immigrants.…”