Enabling Healthy Living

The increasing burden of overweight and obesity in the United States (U.S.) demands a better understanding of its local and regional spatial patterns and trends. The study examines the hypothesis that there are spatial differences in the prevalence of overweight and obesity in U.S. youths at regional and local levels. It used spatial, statistical, and spatiotemporal analyses and a synthesis of regionally and locally relevant data from a cohort of large, nationally representative, longitudinal data sets, the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY`97) to analyze overweight and obesity prevalence. Specifically, the methods used included the spatial Generalized Linear Mixed Model (GLMM), spatial interpolation techniques (Inverse Distance Weighting – IDW), and Kulldorf's scan space-time analysis. The paper analyzed 12 waves (1997–2008) of data from the NLSY data sets. Its findings revealed there is an upward trend both in males and in females in obesity prevalence in US youths during the twelve-year period. Youth obesity prevalence was also higher among females than among males. The cohort shows evidence of increase in overweight and obesity prevalence. There are mixed trends in youth obesity prevalence patterns in rural and urban areas. Counties identified as consistently experiencing higher prevalence of obesity and with the potential of becoming an obesogenic environment are Copiah, Holmes, and Hinds in Mississippi; Harris and Chamber, Texas; Oklahoma and McCain, Oklahoma; Jefferson, Louisiana; and Chicot and Jefferson, Arkansas. The twelve-year study indicated spatial variation in obesity and overweight prevalence among U.S. youths, with pockets of clustered prevalence. This information can guide programs, policies, and initiatives for obesity prevention at regional and local levels.

The Family-Go-Round

Men who have children with several partners are often assumed to be “deadbeats” who eschew their responsibilities to their children. Using data from the nationally representative National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 cohort (NLSY-97), we show that most men in complex families intensively parent the children of one mother while being less involved, or not involved at all, with children by others. Repeated qualitative interviews with 110 low-income noncustodial fathers reveal that men in complex families often engage with and provide, at least to some degree, for all of the biological and stepchildren who live in one mother’s household. These activities often exceed those extended to biological children living elsewhere. Interviews also show that by devoting most or all of their resources to the children of just one mother, men in complex families feel successful as fathers even if they are not intensively involved with their other biological children.