Work-family life courses and BMI trajectories in three British birth cohorts

Abstract

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES:Combining work and family responsibilities has previously been associated with improved health in mid-life, yet little is known about how these associations change over time (both biographical and historical) and whether this extends to body mass index (BMI) trajectories for British men and women. The purpose of this study was to investigate relationships between work-family life courses and BMI trajectories across adulthood (16–42 years) for men and women in three British birth cohorts.SUBJECTS/METHODS:Multiply imputed data from three nationally representative British birth cohorts were used—the MRC National Survey of Health and Development (NSHD; 1946 birth cohort, n=3012), the National Child Development Study (NCDS; 1958 birth cohort, n=9614) and the British Cohort Study (BCS; 1970 birth cohort, n=8140). A typology of work-family life course types was developed using multi-channel sequence analysis, linking annual information on work, partnerships and parenthood from 16 to 42 years. Work-family life courses were related to BMI trajectories using multi-level growth models. Analyses adjusted for indicators of prior health, birthweight, child BMI, educational attainment and socioeconomic position across the life course, and were stratified by gender and cohort.RESULTS:Work-family life courses characterised by earlier transitions to parenthood and weaker long-term links to employment were associated with greater increases in BMI across adulthood. Some of these differences, particularly for work-family groups, which are becoming increasingly non-normative, became more pronounced across cohorts (for example, increases in BMI between 16 and 42 years in long-term homemaking women: NSHD: 4.35 kg m–2, 95% confidence interval (CI): 3.44, 5.26; NCDS: 5.53 kg m–2, 95% CI: 5.18, 5.88; BCS: 6.69 kg m–2, 95% CI: 6.36, 7.02).CONCLUSIONS:Becoming a parent earlier and weaker long-term ties to employment are associated with greater increases in BMI across adulthood in British men and women.

Association between full monitoring of biomedical and lifestyle target indicators and HbA1clevel in primary type 2 diabetes care: an observational cohort study (ELZHA-cohort 1)

“…To our knowledge, little is known about the relationship between full monitoring of biomedical as well as lifestyle-related target diabetes indicators in a care group setting and clinical health outcomes. The HbA 1c level is established as a key diabetes health indicator 28. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the association between full monitoring of biomedical and lifestyle-related diabetes target indicators and HbA 1c level in patients with T2DM who receive a structured diabetes care protocol facilitated by a care group.…”

Fertility History and Physical and Mental Health Changes in European Older Adults

“…A further explanation is that early parenthood indirectly affects health through employment, wealth and education. Studies in the USA and UK show that earlier parenthood is associated with unstable employment trajectories (Dariotis et al 2011; Sigle-Rushton 2005), less resource accumulation prior to childbearing (Powell et al 2006) and lower educational attainment [although there is some debate over the direction of association with education (Kane et al 2013)], which may lead to long-term health disadvantages (Dariotis et al 2011; Lacey et al 2017). Here, societal/welfare factors may play a role in moderating the negative health effects of early parenthood.…”

Informal caregiving and markers of adiposity in the UK Household Longitudinal Study

“…[ 6 ] Also, the relationship between social exposures, such as social roles, and adiposity is generally stronger for women compared to men. [ 30 ] Survey weights were applied to account for the design, unequal probabilities of selection, differential non-response and potential sampling errors.…”