Dynamic poverty experiences and development of overweight in a prospective cohort of US children ages 4 to 14

OBJECTIVE: To examine the associations between poverty dynamics and the long-term risk of developing overweight or obesity. DESIGN AND METHODS: Our data are a representative sample of U.S. children from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 Child and Young Adult Survey (1986-2008). We used survival analysis to compare risk of developing overweight or obesity among 5,613 children aged 4 to 14 from never poor households, transient poor households (those that became poor only once), recurrent poor households (those that became poor more than once), and persistent poor households (those that became poor and remained poor for at least 4 consecutive years) and examined interactions by race/ethnicity, gender, and age. RESULTS: Compared with children from never poor households, children from transient poor households (HR 0.79, 95% CI: 0.68, 0.92), recurrent poor households (HR: 0.73, 95% CI: 0.62, 0.87), and persistently poor households (HR: 0.62, 95% CI: 0.51, 0.74) had significantly reduced risks of becoming overweight or obese. These associations did not vary by race/ethnicity, gender, or age. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that poverty experiences are associated with reduced risk of becoming overweight or obese among children 4 to 14.