Unequal Protective Effects of Parental Educational Attainment on the Body Mass Index of Black and White Youth

doi:10.3390/ijerph16193641

. 2019 Sep 27;16(19):3641.

doi: 10.3390/ijerph16193641.

Unequal Protective Effects of Parental Educational Attainment on the Body Mass Index of Black and White Youth

Shervin Assari¹, Shanika Boyce², Mohsen Bazargan^{3

4}, Ron Mincy^{5

6

7}, Cleopatra H Caldwell^{8

9}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Family Medicine, Charles R Drew University of Medicine and Science, Los Angeles, CA 90059, USA. assari@umich.edu.
² Department of Pediatrics, Charles R Drew University of Medicine and Science, Los Angeles, CA 90059, USA. ShanikaBoyce@cdrewu.edu.
³ Department of Family Medicine, Charles R Drew University of Medicine and Science, Los Angeles, CA 90059, USA. Mohsenbazargan@cdrewu.edu.
⁴ Department of Family Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA. Mohsenbazargan@cdrewu.edu.
⁵ Center for Research on Fathers, Children, and Family Well-Being, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027-5927, USA. rmincysr@gmail.com.
⁶ Columbia Population Research Center (CPRC), Columbia University, New York, NY 10027-5927, USA. rmincysr@gmail.com.
⁷ Columbia University School of Social Work, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027-5927, USA. rmincysr@gmail.com.
⁸ Center for Research on Ethnicity, Culture, and Health (CRECH), School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48104, USA. cleoc@umich.edu.
⁹ Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48104, USA. cleoc@umich.edu.

PMID: 31569829
PMCID: PMC6801712
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph16193641

Unequal Protective Effects of Parental Educational Attainment on the Body Mass Index of Black and White Youth

Shervin Assari et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2019.

. 2019 Sep 27;16(19):3641.

doi: 10.3390/ijerph16193641.

Authors

Shervin Assari¹, Shanika Boyce², Mohsen Bazargan^{3

4}, Ron Mincy^{5

6

7}, Cleopatra H Caldwell^{8

9}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Family Medicine, Charles R Drew University of Medicine and Science, Los Angeles, CA 90059, USA. assari@umich.edu.
² Department of Pediatrics, Charles R Drew University of Medicine and Science, Los Angeles, CA 90059, USA. ShanikaBoyce@cdrewu.edu.
³ Department of Family Medicine, Charles R Drew University of Medicine and Science, Los Angeles, CA 90059, USA. Mohsenbazargan@cdrewu.edu.
⁴ Department of Family Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA. Mohsenbazargan@cdrewu.edu.
⁵ Center for Research on Fathers, Children, and Family Well-Being, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027-5927, USA. rmincysr@gmail.com.
⁶ Columbia Population Research Center (CPRC), Columbia University, New York, NY 10027-5927, USA. rmincysr@gmail.com.
⁷ Columbia University School of Social Work, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027-5927, USA. rmincysr@gmail.com.
⁸ Center for Research on Ethnicity, Culture, and Health (CRECH), School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48104, USA. cleoc@umich.edu.
⁹ Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48104, USA. cleoc@umich.edu.

PMID: 31569829
PMCID: PMC6801712
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph16193641

Abstract

Background: Parental educational attainment is shown to be protective against health problems; the Minorities' Diminished Returns theory, however, posits that these protective effects tend to be smaller for socially marginalized groups particularly blacks than whites.

Aims: To explore racial differences in the effect of parental educational attainment on body mass index (BMI) in a national sample of US adolescents.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we used baseline data of 10,701 (8678 white and 2023 black) 12-17 years old adolescents in the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH; 2013). Parental educational attainment was the predictor. Youth BMI (based on self-reported weight and height) was the dependent variable. Age, gender, ethnicity, and family structure were covariates. Race was the focal moderator.

Results: Overall, higher parental educational attainment was associated with lower youth BMI. Race, however, moderated the effect of parental educational attainment on BMI, suggesting that the protective effect of parental educational attainment on BMI is significantly smaller for black than white youth.

Conclusions: In the United States, race alters the health gains that are expected to follow parental educational attainment. While white youth who are from highly educated families are fit, black youth have high BMI at all levels of parental educational attainment. This means, while the most socially privileged group, whites, gain the most health from their parental education, blacks, the least privileged group, gain the least. Economic, social, public, and health policymakers should be aware that health disparities are not all due to lower socioeconomic status (SES) of the disadvantaged group but also diminished returns of SES resources for them. Black-white health disparities exist across all high socioeconomic status (SES) levels.

Keywords: African-Americans; blacks; body mass index (BMI); education; obesity; population groups; race; socioeconomic position; socioeconomic status; whites.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

**Figure 1**
Average youth body mass index (BMI) based on parental educational attainment in whites (**Blue line**) and blacks (**Green line**).

See this image and copyright information in PMC

Cited by

Parent Education and Future Transition to Cigarette Smoking: Latinos' Diminished Returns.
Assari S, Boyce S, Caldwell CH, Bazargan M. Assari S, et al. Front Pediatr. 2020 Aug 19;8:457. doi: 10.3389/fped.2020.00457. eCollection 2020. Front Pediatr. 2020. PMID: 32974240 Free PMC article.
African American Children's Diminished Returns of Subjective Family Socioeconomic Status on Fun Seeking.
Assari S, Akhlaghipour G, Boyce S, Bazargan M, Caldwell CH. Assari S, et al. Children (Basel). 2020 Jul 9;7(7):75. doi: 10.3390/children7070075. Children (Basel). 2020. PMID: 32660094 Free PMC article.
High Systolic Blood Pressure of High-Income African American Children.
Assari S, Najand B, Khatami SM. Assari S, et al. J Racial Ethn Health Disparities. 2024 Aug;11(4):1994-2008. doi: 10.1007/s40615-023-01668-5. Epub 2023 Jul 7. J Racial Ethn Health Disparities. 2024. PMID: 37418111 Free PMC article.
Diminished Returns of Educational Attainment on Body Mass Index Among Latino Populations: Insights from UAS Data.
Assari S, Zare H. Assari S, et al. Glob J Epidemol Infect Dis. 2024;4(1):92-104. doi: 10.31586/gjeid.2024.1096. Epub 2024 Nov 21. Glob J Epidemol Infect Dis. 2024. PMID: 39634512 Free PMC article.
Parental determinants associated with early growth after the first year of life by race and ethnicity.
Aguayo L, Chang C, McCormack LR, Shalowitz MU. Aguayo L, et al. Front Pediatr. 2023 Jul 25;11:1213534. doi: 10.3389/fped.2023.1213534. eCollection 2023. Front Pediatr. 2023. PMID: 37565242 Free PMC article.

See all "Cited by" articles

References

1. Patel A.V., Hildebrand J.S., Gapstur S.M. Body mass index and all-cause mortality in a large prospective cohort of white and black U.S. Adults. PLoS ONE. 2014;9:e109153. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0109153. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
1. Sanchez A.M., Reed D.R., Price R.A. Reduced mortality associated with body mass index (BMI) in African Americans relative to Caucasians. Ethn. Dis. 2000;10:24–30. - PubMed
1. Berrington de Gonzalez A., Hartge P., Cerhan J.R., Flint A.J., Hannan L., MacInnis R.J., Moore S.C., Tobias G.S., Anton-Culver H., Freeman L.B., et al. Body-mass index and mortality among 1.46 million white adults. N. Engl. J. Med. 2010;363:2211–2219. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1000367. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
1. Tobias D.K., Pan A., Jackson C.L., O’Reilly E.J., Ding E.L., Willett W.C., Manson J.E., Hu F.B. Body-mass index and mortality among adults with incident type 2 diabetes. N. Engl. J. Med. 2014;370:233–244. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1304501. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
1. Calle E.E., Thun M.J., Petrelli J.M., Rodriguez C., Heath C.W., Jr. Body-mass index and mortality in a prospective cohort of U.S. adults. N. Engl. J. Med. 1999;341:1097–1105. doi: 10.1056/NEJM199910073411501. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

Actions

MeSH terms

Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions

Grants and funding

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources
Medical
- MedlinePlus Health Information

[1] Patel A.V., Hildebrand J.S., Gapstur S.M. Body mass index and all-cause mortality in a large prospective cohort of white and black U.S. Adults. PLoS ONE. 2014;9:e109153. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0109153. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[2] Patel A.V., Hildebrand J.S., Gapstur S.M. Body mass index and all-cause mortality in a large prospective cohort of white and black U.S. Adults. PLoS ONE. 2014;9:e109153. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0109153. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[3] Sanchez A.M., Reed D.R., Price R.A. Reduced mortality associated with body mass index (BMI) in African Americans relative to Caucasians. Ethn. Dis. 2000;10:24–30. - PubMed

[4] Sanchez A.M., Reed D.R., Price R.A. Reduced mortality associated with body mass index (BMI) in African Americans relative to Caucasians. Ethn. Dis. 2000;10:24–30. - PubMed

[5] Berrington de Gonzalez A., Hartge P., Cerhan J.R., Flint A.J., Hannan L., MacInnis R.J., Moore S.C., Tobias G.S., Anton-Culver H., Freeman L.B., et al. Body-mass index and mortality among 1.46 million white adults. N. Engl. J. Med. 2010;363:2211–2219. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1000367. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[6] Berrington de Gonzalez A., Hartge P., Cerhan J.R., Flint A.J., Hannan L., MacInnis R.J., Moore S.C., Tobias G.S., Anton-Culver H., Freeman L.B., et al. Body-mass index and mortality among 1.46 million white adults. N. Engl. J. Med. 2010;363:2211–2219. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1000367. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[7] Tobias D.K., Pan A., Jackson C.L., O’Reilly E.J., Ding E.L., Willett W.C., Manson J.E., Hu F.B. Body-mass index and mortality among adults with incident type 2 diabetes. N. Engl. J. Med. 2014;370:233–244. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1304501. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[8] Tobias D.K., Pan A., Jackson C.L., O’Reilly E.J., Ding E.L., Willett W.C., Manson J.E., Hu F.B. Body-mass index and mortality among adults with incident type 2 diabetes. N. Engl. J. Med. 2014;370:233–244. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1304501. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[9] Calle E.E., Thun M.J., Petrelli J.M., Rodriguez C., Heath C.W., Jr. Body-mass index and mortality in a prospective cohort of U.S. adults. N. Engl. J. Med. 1999;341:1097–1105. doi: 10.1056/NEJM199910073411501. - DOI - PubMed

[10] Calle E.E., Thun M.J., Petrelli J.M., Rodriguez C., Heath C.W., Jr. Body-mass index and mortality in a prospective cohort of U.S. adults. N. Engl. J. Med. 1999;341:1097–1105. doi: 10.1056/NEJM199910073411501. - DOI - PubMed

Save citation to file

Email citation

Add to Collections

Add to My Bibliography

Your saved search

Create a file for external citation management software

Your RSS Feed

Unequal Protective Effects of Parental Educational Attainment on the Body Mass Index of Black and White Youth

Affiliations

Unequal Protective Effects of Parental Educational Attainment on the Body Mass Index of Black and White Youth

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

Figures

Similar articles

Cited by

References

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Medical