Marriage and parenthood in relation to obesogenic neighborhood trajectories: The CARDIA study

• Published in: Health & place Vol. 34; pp. 229 - 240
• Main Authors: Boone-Heinonen, Janne, Howard, Annie Green, Meyer, Katie, Lewis, Cora E., Kiefe, Catarina I., Laroche, Helena H., Gunderson, Erica P., Gordon-Larsen, Penny
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.07.2015
• Subjects: Adult; Black or African American; Built environment; Environment; Exercise; Family Characteristics; Female; Food Supply; Geographic Information Systems; Geographical information systems; Humans; Life course; Longitudinal studies; Longitudinal study; Male; Marriage; Marriage - statistics & numerical data; Middle Aged; Obesity; Obesity - epidemiology; Parenthood; Parents; Population density; Prospective Studies; Residence Characteristics - statistics & numerical data; Socioeconomic Factors; White People; Obesity; Built environment; Life course; Longitudinal study; Geographic information systems
• ISSN: 1353-8292; 1873-2054
• DOI: 10.1016/j.healthplace.2015.05.005

Marriage and parenthood are associated with weight gain and residential mobility. Little is known about how obesity-relevant environmental contexts differ according to family structure. We estimated trajectories of neighborhood poverty, population density, and density of fast food restaurants, supermarkets, and commercial and public physical activity facilities for adults from a biracial cohort (CARDIA, n=4,174, aged 25–50) over 13 years (1992–93 through 2005–06) using latent growth curve analysis. We estimated associations of marriage, parenthood, and race with the observed neighborhood trajectories. Married participants tended to live in neighborhoods with lower poverty, population density, and availability of all types of food and physical activity amenities. Parenthood was similarly but less consistently related to neighborhood characteristics. Marriage and parenthood were more strongly related to neighborhood trajectories in whites (versus blacks), who, in prior studies, exhibit weaker associations between neighborhood characteristics and health. Greater understanding of how interactive family and neighborhood environments contribute to healthy living is needed. •We estimated effects of family structure on obesity-related neighborhood changes.•Marriage and parenthood were associated with living in wealthier neighborhoods.•Families tended to live in neighborhoods with few food and physical activity amenities.•Neighborhood-family structure associations were stronger in whites than blacks.