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Assessing Hispanic/Latino and Non-Hispanic White Social Determinants of Obesity Among a Community Sample of Residents in the Rural Southeast US

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Abstract

Employing an ecological approach, we sought to identify social determinants of obesity among Hispanics/Latinos and non-Hispanic whites living in the Southeast US. Data on social determinants of obesity (individual, family, community and cultural/contextual) were collected from 217 participants [106 Hispanics/Latinos; 111 non-Hispanic whites]; height and weight  were objectively measured. We compared prevalence of overweight and obese between ethnic groups and BMI values within each group by social determinants. Hispanics had a 1.9-fold increase (OR 1.93, 95% CI: 1.05–3.55) in overweight prevalence compared to non-Hispanic whites after adjusting for age and gender. We found positive estimates between unfavorable family-level determinants and BMI among Hispanic/Latinos. In contrast, non-Hispanic whites who reported unfavorable neighborhood characteristics had higher BMI’s. Findings highlight the need for targeted approaches for the prevention and control of obesity.

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Acknowledgements

We especially thank Matthew Carle, Morgan Griesemer Lepard, Ynhi Thai, Meghan Meehan, Amancia Carrera, Sylvia Alavarez Mancinas, Susan Henry Barber, and Chris Caudill for their tireless efforts to canvas neighborhoods and interviews participants. We would also like to thank all our participants, the office of the Mayor of Albertville, the Albertville Police Department, support staff, and others who helped make this study possible.

Funding

This work was supported by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities under grant U54MD008176; and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, UAB Diabetes Research Center under grant 1P60DK079626-01. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities or National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases or the National Institutes of Health or others supporting this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicine, Division of Preventive Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 638 Medical Towers, 1717 11th Avenue South, Birmingham, AL, 35205, USA

    Carrie R. Howell, Lucia Juarez, April A. Agne, Isabel C. Scarinci & Andrea L. Cherrington

  2. School of Public Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 1665 University Blvd, Birmingham, AL, 35233, USA

    Ariann F. Nassel

  3. School of Public Health, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA

    Guadalupe X. Ayala

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  1. Carrie R. Howell
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  2. Lucia Juarez
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  6. Guadalupe X. Ayala
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Contributions

ALC, ICS, GXA, and CRH contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation and data collection were performed by LJ, AAA and AFN. Data analysis and interpretation were performed by LJ, CRH and ALC. The first draft of the manuscript was written by CRH and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Carrie R. Howell.

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All authors have no conflicts of interest or financial relationships relevant to this article to disclose. All sources of funding had no role in study design; collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; writing the report; or the decision to submit the report for publication.

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The study was reviewed and approved by the institution’s review board.

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Howell, C.R., Juarez, L., Agne, A.A. et al. Assessing Hispanic/Latino and Non-Hispanic White Social Determinants of Obesity Among a Community Sample of Residents in the Rural Southeast US. J Immigrant Minority Health 24, 1469–1479 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-022-01334-8

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