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Variation in Child Body Mass Index Patterns by Race/Ethnicity and Maternal Nativity Status in the United States and England

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Abstract

This paper examines body mass index (BMI) trajectories among children from different race/ethnic and maternal nativity backgrounds in the United States and England from early- to middle-childhood. This study is the first to examine race/ethnic and maternal nativity differences in BMI trajectories in both countries. We use two longitudinal birth cohort studies—The Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (n = 3,285) for the United States and the Millennium Cohort Study (n = 6,700) for England to estimate trajectories in child BMI by race/ethnicity and maternal nativity status using multilevel growth models. In the United States our sample includes white, black, and Hispanic children; in England the sample includes white, black, and Asian children. We find significant race/ethnic differences in the initial BMI and BMI trajectories of children in both countries, with all non-white groups having significantly steeper BMI growth trajectories than whites. Nativity differences in BMI trajectories vary by race/ethnic group and are only statistically significantly higher for children of foreign-born blacks in England. Disparities in BMI trajectories are pervasive in the United States and England, despite lower overall BMI among English children. Future studies should consider both race/ethnicity and maternal nativity status subgroups when examining disparities in BMI in the United States and England. Differences in BMI are apparent in early childhood, which suggests that interventions targeting pre-school age children may be most effective at stemming childhood disparities in BMI.

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Abbreviations

BMI:

Body mass index

US:

United States

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Acknowledgments

This research was funded in part by Grant T32HD001763 from the National Institutes of Health.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Social Work, University of Washington, 4101 15th Avenue NE, Seattle, WA, 98105, USA

    Melissa L. Martinson

  2. Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA

    Sara McLanahan

  3. Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

    Jeanne Brooks-Gunn

Authors
  1. Melissa L. Martinson
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  2. Sara McLanahan
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  3. Jeanne Brooks-Gunn
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Correspondence to Melissa L. Martinson.

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Martinson, M.L., McLanahan, S. & Brooks-Gunn, J. Variation in Child Body Mass Index Patterns by Race/Ethnicity and Maternal Nativity Status in the United States and England. Matern Child Health J 19, 373–380 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-014-1519-7

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