IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v384y2025ics0277953625008706.html

The development of body mass index from adolescence to adulthood: A genotype-family socioeconomic status interaction study

Author

Listed:
  • Ghirardi, Gaia

Abstract

Body weight in adolescence and adulthood may result from the interplay between individuals’ genetic characteristics and the social context in which they grow up, such as family socioeconomic status (SES). However, evidence on the interaction between genetic propensity for high body mass index (BMI) and family SES remains inconclusive. This study investigates whether genetic associations with BMI differ among individuals from high-SES versus low-SES families and whether these associations vary across the life course. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), I assess the association between a polygenic index for BMI (BMI PGI) and BMI at four life stages: adolescence (≃ 16), early adulthood (≃ 22), adulthood (≃ 28), and later adulthood (≃ 37). Results show that the BMI PGI is more predictive of BMI among individuals from low-SES families than from high-SES families. The interaction weakens over the life course but persists among individuals with high BMI levels. These findings suggest that high-SES families may buffer genetic propensities for overweight and obesity, whereas low-SES environments may exacerbate them, increasing the risk of elevated BMI. The results underscore the importance of family socioeconomic background in shaping BMI outcomes and highlight how environmental interventions, such as promoting healthy eating and physical activity, may help reduce social inequalities in health.

Suggested Citation

  • Ghirardi, Gaia, 2025. "The development of body mass index from adolescence to adulthood: A genotype-family socioeconomic status interaction study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 384(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:384:y:2025:i:c:s0277953625008706
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.118539
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953625008706
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.118539?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Anna Sanz-de-Galdeano & Anastasia Terskaya & Angie Upegui, 2020. "Association of a genetic risk score with BMI along the life-cycle: Evidence from several US cohorts," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(9), pages 1-19, September.
    2. Jiacheng Miao & Yupei Lin & Yuchang Wu & Boyan Zheng & Lauren L. Schmitz & Jason M. Fletcher & Qiongshi Lu, 2022. "A quantile integral linear model to quantify genetic effects on phenotypic variability," Decision Analysis, INFORMS, vol. 119(39), pages 2212959119-, September.
    3. repec:nas:journl:v:115:y:2018:p:e7275-e7284 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Florencia Torche, 2018. "Prenatal Exposure to an Acute Stressor and Children’s Cognitive Outcomes," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 55(5), pages 1611-1639, October.
    5. Jiacheng Miao & Yupei Lin & Yuchang Wu & Boyan Zheng & Lauren L. Schmitz & Jason M. Fletcher & Qiongshi Lu, 2022. "A quantile integral linear model to quantify genetic effects on phenotypic variability," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 119(39), pages 2212959119-, September.
    6. Jason M. Fletcher, 2019. "Environmental bottlenecks in children’s genetic potential for adult socio-economic attainments: Evidence from a health shock," Population Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 73(1), pages 139-148, January.
    7. repec:nas:journl:v:115:y:2018:p:e9765-e9772 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Aysu Okbay & Jonathan P. Beauchamp & Mark Alan Fontana & James J. Lee & Tune H. Pers & Cornelius A. Rietveld & Patrick Turley & Guo-Bo Chen & Valur Emilsson & S. Fleur W. Meddens & Sven Oskarsson & Jo, 2016. "Genome-wide association study identifies 74 loci associated with educational attainment," Nature, Nature, vol. 533(7604), pages 539-542, May.
    9. Martin A. Isungset & Dalton Conley & Henrik D. Zachrisson & Eivind Ystrom & Alexandra Havdahl & Pål R. Njølstad & Torkild Hovde Lyngstad, 2022. "Social and genetic associations with educational performance in a Scandinavian welfare state," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 119(25), pages 2201869119-, June.
    10. Braveman, P.A. & Cubbin, C. & Egerter, S. & Williams, D.R. & Pamuk, E., 2010. "Socioeconomic disparities in health in the united States: What the patterns tell us," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 100(S1), pages 186-196.
    11. Mathias Rask-Andersen & Torgny Karlsson & Weronica E Ek & Åsa Johansson, 2017. "Gene-environment interaction study for BMI reveals interactions between genetic factors and physical activity, alcohol consumption and socioeconomic status," PLOS Genetics, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(9), pages 1-20, September.
    12. Melinda C. Mills & Iain Mathieson, 2022. "The challenge of detecting recent natural selection in human populations," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 119(15), pages 2203237119-, April.
    13. Sergio P. Firpo & Nicole M. Fortin & Thomas Lemieux, 2018. "Decomposing Wage Distributions Using Recentered Influence Function Regressions," Econometrics, MDPI, vol. 6(2), pages 1-40, May.
    14. Nicole Darmon & Adam Drewnowski, 2015. "Contribution of food prices and diet cost to socioeconomic disparities in diet quality and health: a systematic review and analysis," Post-Print hal-01774670, HAL.
    15. Guang Guo & Hexuan Liu & Ling Wang & Haipeng Shen & Wen Hu, 2015. "The Genome-Wide Influence on Human BMI Depends on Physical Activity, Life Course, and Historical Period," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 52(5), pages 1651-1670, October.
    16. Sergio Firpo & Nicole M. Fortin & Thomas Lemieux, 2009. "Unconditional Quantile Regressions," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 77(3), pages 953-973, May.
    17. Nicholas W Papageorge & Kevin Thom, 2020. "Genes, Education, and Labor Market Outcomes: Evidence from the Health and Retirement Study," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 18(3), pages 1351-1399.
    18. Adam E. Locke & Bratati Kahali & Sonja I. Berndt & Anne E. Justice & Tune H. Pers & Felix R. Day & Corey Powell & Sailaja Vedantam & Martin L. Buchkovich & Jian Yang & Damien C. Croteau-Chonka & Tonu , 2015. "Genetic studies of body mass index yield new insights for obesity biology," Nature, Nature, vol. 518(7538), pages 197-206, February.
    19. Brunello, Giorgio & Sanz-de-Galdeano, Anna & Terskaya, Anastasia, 2020. "Not only in my genes: The effects of peers’ genotype on obesity," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    20. Lee, H. & Andrew, M. & Gebremariam, A. & Lumeng, J.C. & Lee, J.M., 2014. "Longitudinal associations between poverty and obesity from birth through adolescence," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 104(5), pages 70-76.
    21. Xu, Yilan & Yilmazer, Tansel, 2021. "Childhood socioeconomic status, adulthood obesity and health: The role of parental permanent and transitory income," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 283(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mao, Minghai & Raiola, Antonio & Yang, Da, 2025. "Double machine learning for Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 255(C).
    2. Wang, Zheng-Xin & Jv, Yue-Qi, 2023. "Revisiting income inequality among households: New evidence from the Chinese Household Income Project," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    3. Katie Meara & Francesco Pastore & Allan Webster, 2020. "The gender pay gap in the USA: a matching study," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 33(1), pages 271-305, January.
    4. Cécile Couharde & Rémi Generoso, 2024. "Assessing the Impact of National Air Quality Standards on Agricultural Land Values: Insights from Corn and Soybean Regions," Working Papers hal-04503777, HAL.
    5. Aswini Kumar Mishra & Vedant Bhardwaj, 2021. "Wealth distribution and accounting for changes in wealth inequality: empirical evidence from India, 1991–2012," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 54(2), pages 585-620, May.
    6. Cawley, John & Han, Euna & Kim, Jiyoon & Norton, Edward C., 2023. "Genetic nurture in educational attainment," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 49(C).
    7. Luis Ayala & Javier Martín‐Román & Juan Vicente, 2024. "What contributes to rising inequality in large cities?," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 64(5), pages 1760-1810, November.
    8. Schneck, Stefan, 2018. "The effect of self-employment on income inequality," Working Papers 05/18, Institut für Mittelstandsforschung (IfM) Bonn.
    9. Majilla, Tanmoy, 2025. "Shadow education, intra-household financial resource allocation, and educational achievements," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 233(C).
    10. Hansen, Henrik & Rand, John & Win, Ngu Wah, 2022. "The gender wage gap in Myanmar: Adding insult to injury?," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    11. Michał Brzeziński & Katarzyna Sałach, 2020. "Why wealth inequality differs between post-socialist countries?," Working Papers 2020-14, Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw.
    12. Pietro Biroli & Titus Galama & Stephanie von Hinke & Hans van Kippersluis & Cornelius A Rietveld & Kevin Thom, 2026. "The Economics and Econometrics of Gene–Environment Interplay," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 93(1), pages 144-180.
    13. Leila Gautham & Nancy Folbre & Kristin Smith, 2024. "Earnings inequality and the expansion of care services in the United States, 1985–2019," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(2), pages 119-140, March.
    14. Ojah, Kalu & Kodongo, Odongo, 2024. "Effective financial inclusion and the need to put the horse before the cart: Saving!," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 96(PB).
    15. Roselinde Kessels & Guido Erreygers, 2019. "A direct regression approach to decomposing socioeconomic inequality of health," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(7), pages 884-905, July.
    16. Bedaso, Fenet Jima, 2024. "Occupational Segregation and the Gender Wage Gap: Evidence from Ethiopia," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1393, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    17. Phan, Van & Singleton, Carl & Bryson, Alex & Forth, John & Ritchie, Felix & Stokes, Lucy & Whittard, Damian, 2022. "Accounting for Firms in Ethnicity Wage Gaps throughout the Earnings Distribution," IZA Discussion Papers 15284, IZA Network @ LISER.
    18. Livini Donath & Oliver Morrissey & Trudy Owens, 2023. "Benefits of enhanced access to education in Tanzania," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 41(3), May.
    19. Luca Giangregorio & Marta Fana, 2024. "What’s behind increasing wage inequality? Explaining the Italian case using RIF-OLS," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 41(1), pages 229-265, April.
    20. Marta Fana & Luca Giangregorio & Davide Villani, 2024. "The Outsourcing Wage Gap: Exploring the Interplay of Gender and Tasks Along the Job Distribution," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 10(2), pages 683-731, July.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:384:y:2025:i:c:s0277953625008706. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.