Temporal Effects of Child and Adolescent Exposure to Neighborhood Disadvantage on Black/White Disparities in Young Adult Obesity

PurposeThis study investigates the effects of duration and timing of exposure to neighborhood disadvantage from birth through age 17 years on obesity incidence in early adulthood and black/white disparities therein.MethodsIndividual- and household-level data from the 1970–2011 waves of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics are merged with census data on respondents' neighborhoods (n = 1,498). Marginal structural models with inverse probability of treatment and censoring weights are used to quantify the probability of being obese at least once between ages 18 and 30 years as a function of cumulative exposure to neighborhood disadvantage throughout childhood and adolescence or during each of three developmental stages therein.ResultsLonger term exposure to neighborhood disadvantage from ages 0–17 years is more common among blacks than among whites and is associated with significantly greater odds of being obese at least once in early adulthood. Exposure to neighborhood-level deprivation during adolescence (ages 10–17 years) appears more consequential for future (young adult) obesity than exposure that occurs earlier in childhood.ConclusionsThe duration and timing of exposure to neighborhood disadvantage during childhood and adolescence are associated with obesity incidence in early adulthood for both blacks and whites. However, given inequalities in the likelihood and persistence of experiencing neighborhood disadvantage as children and youth, such adverse effects are likely to be more concentrated among black versus white young adults.