IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v74y2012i11p1703-1711.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The multidimensional relationship between early adult body weight and women’s childbearing experiences

Author

Listed:
  • Frisco, Michelle L.
  • Weden, Margaret M.
  • Lippert, Adam M.
  • Burnett, Kristin D.

Abstract

This study has three primary goals that make an important contribution to the literature on body weight and childbearing experiences among United States’ women. It sheds light on the physiological and social nature of this relationship by examining whether the consequences of early adult weight for lifetime childbearing are shaped by historical social context, women’s social characteristics, and their ability to marry. We analyze data from two female cohorts who participated in the National Longitudinal Study of Youth (NLSY79). Cohort 1 entered early adulthood before the U.S. obesity prevalence increased. Cohort 2 entered early adulthood after the obesity prevalence increased. We find that early adult weight is negatively related to the childbearing trajectories and marital status of Cohort 1 but not Cohort 2. Failing to account for race/ethnicity and women’s educational background as confounders masks some of these associations, which are evident for both White and Black women. Our results suggest that the health consequences of body weight do not fully drive its impact on childbearing. Rather, the lifetime fertility consequences of early adult weight are malleable, involve social processes, and are dependent on social context.

Suggested Citation

  • Frisco, Michelle L. & Weden, Margaret M. & Lippert, Adam M. & Burnett, Kristin D., 2012. "The multidimensional relationship between early adult body weight and women’s childbearing experiences," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(11), pages 1703-1711.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:74:y:2012:i:11:p:1703-1711
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.08.018
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953611005259
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.08.018?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 search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jane Menken, 1985. "Age and fertility: How late can you wait?," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 22(4), pages 469-483, November.
    2. Patrick Royston, 2005. "Multiple imputation of missing values: update," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 5(2), pages 188-201, June.
    3. Dale Dannefer, 2003. "Cumulative Advantage/Disadvantage and the Life Course: Cross-Fertilizing Age and Social Science Theory," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 58(6), pages 327-337.
    4. Sankar Mukhopadhyay, 2008. "Do women value marriage more? The effect of obesity on cohabitation and marriage in the USA," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 6(2), pages 111-126, June.
    5. James Wood & Darryl Holman & Anatoli Yashin & Raymond Peterson & Maxine Weinstein & Ming-Cheng Chang, 1994. "A Multistate model of fecundability and sterility," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 31(3), pages 403-426, August.
    6. S. Philip Morgan & Ronald Rindfuss, 1999. "Reexamining the link of early childbearing to Marriage and to subsequent fertillty," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 36(1), pages 59-75, February.
    7. Michael Rendall & Lynda Clarke & H. Peters & Nalini Ranjit & Georgia Verropoulou, 1999. "Incomplete reporting of men’s fertility in the united states and britain: A research note," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 36(1), pages 135-144, February.
    8. Patrick Royston, 2005. "Multiple imputation of missing values: Update of ice," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 5(4), pages 527-536, December.
    9. Haas, Steven, 2008. "Trajectories of functional health: The 'long arm' of childhood health and socioeconomic factors," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 66(4), pages 849-861, February.
    10. R. Raley, 2001. "Increasing fertility in cohabiting unions: evidence for the second demographic transition in the united states?," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 38(1), pages 59-66, February.
    11. Baltrus, P.T. & Lynch, J.W. & Everson-Rose, S. & Raghunathan, T.E. & Kaplan, G.A., 2005. "Race/ethnicity, life-course socioeconomic position, and body weight trajectories over 34 years: The Alameda County Study," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 95(9), pages 1595-1601.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Kane, Jennifer B. & Frisco, Michelle L., 2013. "Obesity, school obesity prevalence, and adolescent childbearing among U.S. young women," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 108-115.
    2. Maruyama, Shiko & Nakamura, Sayaka, 2018. "Why are women slimmer than men in developed countries?," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 1-13.

    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. Zhe Zhang & Corinne Reczek & Cynthia G. Colen, 2020. "Intergenerational Coresidence and Mothers’ Body Weight at Midlife," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 39(6), pages 1051-1085, December.
    2. Harald Schoen, 2008. "Identity, Instrumental Self-Interest and Institutional Evaluations," European Union Politics, , vol. 9(1), pages 5-29, March.
    3. Martin, Molly A. & Lippert, Adam M., 2012. "Feeding her children, but risking her health: The intersection of gender, household food insecurity and obesity," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(11), pages 1754-1764.
    4. Lee, Chioun & Ryff, Carol D., 2016. "Early parenthood as a link between childhood disadvantage and adult heart problems: A gender-based approach," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 171(C), pages 58-66.
    5. Denney, Justin T. & Brewer, Mackenzie & Kimbro, Rachel Tolbert, 2020. "Food insecurity in households with young children: A test of contextual congruence," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 263(C).
    6. Gerko Vink & Laurence E. Frank & Jeroen Pannekoek & Stef Buuren, 2014. "Predictive mean matching imputation of semicontinuous variables," Statistica Neerlandica, Netherlands Society for Statistics and Operations Research, vol. 68(1), pages 61-90, February.
    7. Watkins, Adam M. & Melde, Chris, 2018. "Gangs, gender, and involvement in crime, victimization, and exposure to violence," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 11-25.
    8. Jason R. D. Rarick & Carly Tubbs Dolan & Wen‐Jui Han & Jun Wen, 2018. "Relations Between Socioeconomic Status, Subjective Social Status, and Health in Shanghai, China," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 99(1), pages 390-405, March.
    9. David W Lawson & Arijeta Makoli & Anna Goodman, 2013. "Sibling Configuration Predicts Individual and Descendant Socioeconomic Success in a Modern Post-Industrial Society," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(9), pages 1-9, September.
    10. Martínez-Espiñeira, Roberto & Lyssenko, Nikita, 2011. "Correcting for the endogeneity of pro-environment behavioral choices in contingent valuation," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(8), pages 1435-1439, June.
    11. Gruenewald, Tara L. & Karlamangla, Arun S. & Hu, Perry & Stein-Merkin, Sharon & Crandall, Carolyn & Koretz, Brandon & Seeman, Teresa E., 2012. "History of socioeconomic disadvantage and allostatic load in later life," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(1), pages 75-83.
    12. Brewer, Mackenzie & Kimbro, Rachel Tolbert, 2014. "Neighborhood context and immigrant children's physical activity," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 1-9.
    13. Lee, RaeHyuck & Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne & Han, Wen-Jui & Waldfogel, Jane & Zhai, Fuhua, 2014. "Is participation in Head Start associated with less maternal spanking for boys and girls?," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 55-63.
    14. Lombardi, Caitlin McPherran, 2021. "Family income and mothers’ parenting quality: Within-family associations from infancy to late childhood," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    15. Minda Tan & Shuiyun Liu, 2023. "A Way of Human Capital Accumulation: Heterogeneous Impact of Shadow Education on Students’ Academic Performance in China," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, November.
    16. Christopher F Baum, 2006. "An Introduction to Modern Econometrics using Stata," Stata Press books, StataCorp LP, number imeus, March.
    17. Zimmerman, Gregory M. & Rees, Carter, 2014. "Do school disciplinary policies have positive social impacts? Examining the attenuating effects of school policies on the relationship between personal and peer delinquency," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 54-65.
    18. Wilson, Sven E., 2012. "Marriage, gender and obesity in later life," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 10(4), pages 431-453.
    19. Emma Zang & Anthony R. Bardo, 2019. "Objective and Subjective Socioeconomic Status, Their Discrepancy, and Health: Evidence from East Asia," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 143(2), pages 765-794, June.
    20. Álvaro Choi & María Gil & Mauro Mediavilla & Javier Valbuena, 2016. "Double toil and trouble: grade retention and academic performance," Working Papers 2016/7, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).

    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:74:y:2012:i:11:p:1703-1711. 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.