Childhood Family Environment and Osteoporosis in a Population‐Based Cohort Study of Middle‐to Older‐Age Americans

Demographic and early‐life socioeconomic and parental investment factors may influence later‐life health and development of chronic and progressive diseases, including osteoporosis, a costly condition common among women. The “long arm of childhood” literature links negative early‐life exposures to lower socioeconomic attainment and worse adult health. We build on a small literature linking childhood socioeconomic status (SES) and bone health, providing evidence of whether associations exist between lower childhood SES and maternal investment and higher risk of osteoporosis diagnosis. We further examine whether persons identifying with non‐White racial/ethnic groups experience underdiagnosis. Data from the nationally representative, population‐based cohort Health and Retirement Study (N = 5,490–11,819) were analyzed for participants ages 50–90 to assess these relationships. Using a machine learning algorithm, we estimated seven survey‐weighted logit models. Greater maternal investment was linked to lower odds of osteoporosis diagnosis (odds ratio [OR] = 0.80, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.69, 0.92), but childhood SES was not (OR = 1.03, 95% CI = 0.94, 1.13). Identifying as Black/African American (OR = 0.56, 95% CI = 0.40, 0.80) was associated with lower odds, and identifying as female (OR = 7.22, 95% CI = 5.54, 9.40) produced higher odds of diagnosis. There were differences in diagnosis across intersectional racial/ethnic and sex identities, after accounting for having a bone density scan, and a model predicting bone density scan receipt demonstrated unequal screening across groups. Greater maternal investment was linked to lower odds of osteoporosis diagnosis, likely reflecting links to life‐course accumulation of human capital and childhood nutrition. There is some evidence of underdiagnosis related to bone density scan access. Yet results demonstrated a limited role for the long arm of childhood in later‐life osteoporosis diagnosis. Findings suggest that (1) clinicians should consider life‐course context when assessing osteoporosis risk and (2) diversity, equity, and inclusivity training for clinicians could improve health equity. © 2023 The Authors. JBMR Plus published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.