Disentangling Overlapping Influences of Neighborhoods and Schools on Adolescent Body Mass Index

Overview

Journal Obesity (Silver Spring)

Specialties Endocrinology
Nutritional Sciences
Physiology

Date 2016 Nov 19

PMID 27863090

Citations 7

Authors

Tracy K Richmond

Erin C Dunn

Carly E Milliren

Clare Rosenfeld Evans

S V Subramanian

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Objective: To compare the simultaneous influence of schools and neighborhoods on adolescent body mass index (BMI).

Methods: Analyzing data from a nationally representative sample of adolescents in grades 7 to 12 (n = 18,200), cross-classified multilevel modeling was used to examine the fixed and random effects of individuals, schools, and neighborhoods on adolescent BMI. Additionally, the ability of school and neighborhood demographics to explain racial/ethnic disparities in BMI was assessed.

Results: There were 18,200 students nested in 128 schools and 2,259 neighborhoods, with 2,757 unique combinations of schools and neighborhoods. In girls, schools (v = 0.18, CI: 0.06-0.33) contributed twice that of neighborhoods (u = 0.08, CI: 0.01-0.20) to the variance in BMI, while in males, schools (u = 0.15, CI: 0.05-0.30) and neighborhoods (v = 0.16, CI: 0.05-0.31) had similar contributions. The interaction of the neighborhood and school random effects contributed significantly to the variance of male and female BMI. Characteristics of neighborhoods and schools explained a large portion of the racial/ethnic disparity in female BMI.

Conclusions: In an analysis of a nationally representative sample including multiple racial and ethnic groups, the BMI variance of adolescent females was associated with schools more than neighborhoods. In males, there was no difference in school or neighborhood association with BMI.

Citing Articles

Adolescent individual, school, and neighborhood influences on young adult diabetes risk.

Milliren C, Sajjad O, Abdel Magid H, Gooding H, Richmond T, Nagata J Health Place. 2023; 83:103047.

PMID: 37301169 PMC: 10798047. DOI: 10.1016/j.healthplace.2023.103047.

Adolescent individual, school, and neighborhood influences on young adult hypertension risk.

Abdel Magid H, Milliren C, Rice K, Molanphy N, Ruiz K, Gooding H PLoS One. 2022; 17(4):e0266729.

PMID: 35482649 PMC: 9049504. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0266729.

Racial/ethnic disparities in childhood obesity: The role of school segregation.

Mahmood N, Sanchez-Vaznaugh E, Matsuzaki M, Sanchez B Obesity (Silver Spring). 2022; 30(5):1116-1125.

PMID: 35470976 PMC: 9097556. DOI: 10.1002/oby.23416.

Cross-classified multilevel models (CCMM) in health research: A systematic review of published empirical studies and recommendations for best practices.

Barker K, Dunn E, Richmond T, Ahmed S, Hawrilenko M, Evans C SSM Popul Health. 2020; 12:100661.

PMID: 32964097 PMC: 7490849. DOI: 10.1016/j.ssmph.2020.100661.

Context Matters: Adolescent Neighborhood and School Influences on Young Adult Body Mass Index.

Niu L, Hoyt L, Pachucki M J Adolesc Health. 2018; 64(3):405-410.

PMID: 30522713 PMC: 6397088. DOI: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2018.09.024.

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