Abstract 14675: Rising Prevalence of Obesity in the Us: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2003-2018

Introduction: Obesity is increasing globally. Obesity exacerbates risk for diabetes, dyslipidemia, hypertension, and ASCVD. We evaluated the prevalence of overweight and obese adults in the US during 2003-2018. HYPOTHESIS: The percentage of men and women overweight/obese is increasing continuously and may exceed the percentage with ‘normal’ weight. Methods: From 77007 participants in 8 NHANES surveys (between 2003-2004 and 2017-2018), we selected 39952 aged 20-79 years for this analysis. Participants with BMI data (n = 39440, 98.7%) were categorized as being underweight (BMI < 18.5), normal (BMI 18.5 - <25), overweight (BMI 25 - <30), obese (BMI 30 - <40) or morbidly obese (BMI 40+). Results were extrapolated to the entire US population (50 states plus the District of Columbia) using the direct method to the US Census 2000 population. Statistical analyses were performed in the R language. Results: There are statistically significant mean increases in BMI (95% confidence interval and p-value) between successive surveys of 0.18 (0.11, 0.25, p<0.0001) for men and 0.24 (0.14, 0.33, p<0.0001) for women. There are clear trends in morbid obesity (BMI 40+) from 3% in the first survey to 7% among men in the last survey, and from 7% to 12% in women. Obesity/morbid obesity (BMI 30+) increased from 31% to 44% in men and from 34% to 43% in women. About 78% of adult men are either overweight, obese, or morbidly obese (BMI 25+) in the most recent survey, an increase from 71% in the first survey. Among women 70% are either overweight, obese, or morbidly obese, an increase from 63% in the first survey. Very few US adults (1-2%) are underweight (BMI<18.5). About one quarter of US adults have normal weight (BMI 18.5- 25). Conclusion: During the period 2003-2018, there has been a substantial rise among both US adult men and women in BMI who are overweight/obese. This necessitates invigorated public education about the clinical hazards posed and the need for lifestyle/dietary modification to stem this crisis.

Predictive limitations of spatial interaction models: a non-Gaussian analysis

We present a method to compare spatial interaction models against data based on well known statistical measures that are appropriate for such models and data. We illustrate our approach using a widely used example: commuting data, specifically from the US Census 2000. We find that the radiation model performs significantly worse than an appropriately chosen simple gravity model. Various conclusions are made regarding the development and use of spatial interaction models, including: that spatial interaction models fit badly to data in an absolute sense, that therefore the risk of over-fitting is small and adding additional fitted parameters improves the predictive power of models, and that appropriate choices of input data can improve model fit.

Multiracial Categorization, Identity, and Policy in (Mixed) Racial Formations

This article examines recent developments in the literature on multiracial categorization, policy, and identity—one that has grown as data on multiracial populations have become widely available, particularly in the United States since the enumeration of multiple race responses was instituted in Census 2000. Significant new research takes advantage of the data generated by the Census providing new insights to questions and claims about the meanings of mixedness and racial boundaries in the United States that were largely speculative even a decade ago. Though this review focuses primarily on issues related to how state enumeration of mixed race populations reflects and engenders particular identity and group configurations, I also discuss emerging research on interracial intimacy—intermarriage and interracial births—the phenomena from which contemporary attention to multiracial categorization and identity arise. An increasingly internationalist discussion is challenging long-held interpretations of the meaning of intermarriage and multiracial identification for understanding emergent racial formations.

Um olhar sobre os indicadores de analfabetismo no Brasil

Analisa os principais fatores associados ao analfabetismo com base nos dados do Censo de 2000, realizado pelo IBGE. As principais conclusões do estudo indicam que o analfabetismo é um fenômeno que está presente com maior predominância não só nas regiões mais pobres do País como, também, na periferia dos grandes centros urbanos. Constata-se, ainda, um número considerável de analfabetos na faixa de 10 a 18 anos de idade, o que mostra que, no Brasil, a freqüência à escola não é um antídoto contra o analfabetismo. Observa-se também que, nos municípios onde a média de anos de estudo é elevada, o número de analfabetos é pequeno. Esses fatos apontam para a necessidade de as políticas de combate ao analfabetismo levarem em conta os diferentes perfis dos segmentos que se encontram nessa situação, bem como atuarem pari passu com as políticas de ampliação da escolaridade da população brasileira. Palavras-chave: taxa de analfabetismo; indicadores educacionais; desigualdades regionais. Abstract The paper analyzes the main factors associated to illiteracy, with basis on data collected by School Census 2000, accomplished by IBGE. The main conclusions of the study indicate that illiteracy is a phenomenon that is present with larger predominance not only in the poorer areas of the country but also, in the periphery of great urban centers. One still verifies a considerable number of illiterates varying from 10 to 18 years of age, which shows that, in Brazil, school frequency is not an antidote against illiteracy. One also observes that in municipal districts, where the average of school years is elevated, the number of illiterates is small. These facts point out the necessity to fight illiteracy, taking into account the different profiles of the segments that are in this situation, as well as acting simultaneously with the politics of increasing education in Brazil. Keywords: illiteracy rate, educational indicators, regional inequalities.

Understanding the Neighborhood Concentration of Affluent Black Households in the 1990s

This study examines the intersection of race, class, and place by exploring the neighborhood concentration of affluent black households in the United States during the 1990s using Census 2000 data. It adds to the literature seeking a more nuanced understanding of the black community. The author assesses the theories of spatial assimilation and place stratification in understanding the processes associated with the neighborhood-level concentration of affluent black households. Regression analyses reveal that, in general, such concentrations are positively associated with black neighborhood socioeconomic status and negatively associated with white status. Furthermore, neighborhood quality and demographic factors are important for understanding the geography of affluent black households. Additionally, the metropolitan characteristics of residential segregation, racial composition, and regional location affect the neighborhood concentration of affluent black households. Findings suggest place stratification theory provides greater explanatory power than spatial assimilation theory for understanding the neighborhood concentration of affluent black households.

The Expanding Gender Earnings Gap: Evidence from the LEHD-2000 Census

The gender earnings gap is an expanding statistic over the lifecycle. We use the LEHD Census 2000 to understand the roles of industry, occupation, and establishment 14 years after leaving school. The gap for college graduates 26 to 39 years old expands by 34 log points, most occurring in the first 7 years. About 44 percent is due to disproportionate shifts by men into higher-earning positions, industries, and firms and about 56 percent to differential advances by gender within firms. Widening is greater for married individuals and for those in certain sectors. Non-college graduates experience less widening but with similar patterns.

Preparing for Local Labor

I investigate how the educational demands of local labor markets shape high school course offerings and student course taking. Using the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 linked to the U.S. Census 2000, I focus on local economic variation in the share of jobs that do not demand a bachelor’s degree. I find that schools in local labor markets with higher concentrations of subbaccalaureate jobs devote a larger share of their course offerings to career and technical education (CTE) courses and a smaller share to advanced college-preparatory courses compared to schools in labor markets with lower concentrations of subbaccalaureate jobs, even net of school resources. Students in labor markets with higher concentrations of subbaccalaureate jobs take greater numbers of CTE courses, and higher-achieving students in these labor markets are less likely to take advanced math and Advanced Placement/International Baccalaureate courses. These course-taking disparities are largely due to school course offerings. This study shows how local economic inequalities shape high school curricular stratification, and suggests that school curricula linked to the educational demands of local jobs delimits the college preparation opportunities of high-achieving students.

An outside view: What do observers say about others’ races and Hispanic origins?

Outsiders’ views of a person’s race or Hispanic origin can impact how she sees herself, how she reports her race and Hispanic origins, and her social and economic experiences. The way outsiders describe non-strangers in terms of their race and Hispanic origin may reveal popular assumptions about which race/Hispanic categories are salient for Americans, which kinds of people are seen as multiracial, and the types of cues people use when identifying another person’s race. We study patterns of observer identification using a unique, large, linked data source with two measures of a person’s race and Hispanic origin. One measure (from Census 2000 or the 2010 Census) was provided by a household respondent and the other (from the other census year) was provided by a census proxy reporter (e.g., a neighbor) who responded on behalf of a non-responsive household. We ask: Does an outsider’s report of a person’s race and Hispanic origin match a household report? We find that in about 90% of our 3.7 million (nonrepresentative) cases, proxy reports of a person’s race and Hispanic origin match responses given by the household in a different census year. Match rates are high for the largest groups: non-Hispanic whites, blacks, and Asians and for Hispanics, though proxies are not very able to replicate the race responses of Hispanics. Matches are much less common for people in smaller groups (American Indian/Alaska Native, Pacific Islander, Some Other Race, and multiracial). We also ask: What predicts a matched response and what predicts a particular unmatched response? We find evidence of the persistence of hypodescent for blacks and hyperdescent for American Indians. Biracial Asian-whites and Pacific Islander-whites are more often seen by others as non-Hispanic white than as people of color. Proxy reporters tend to identify children as multiple race and elders as single race, whether they are or not. The race/Hispanic composition of the tract is more powerfully predictive of a particular unmatched response than are tract-level measures of socioeconomic status; unmatched responses are often consistent with the race/Hispanic characteristics of the neighborhood.

America's Churning Races: Race and Ethnic Response Changes between Census 2000 and the 2010 Census

Race and ethnicity responses can change over time and across contexts – a component of population change not usually taken into account. To what extent do race and/or Hispanic origin responses change? Is change more common to/from some race/ethnic groups than others? Does the propensity to change responses vary by characteristics of the individual? To what extent do these changes affect researchers? We use internal Census Bureau data from the 2000 and 2010 censuses in which individuals’ responses have been linked across years. Approximately 9.8 million people (about 6 percent) in our large, non-representative linked data have a different race and/or Hispanic origin response in 2010 than they did in 2000. Several groups experienced considerable fluidity in racial identification: American Indians and Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders, and multiple-race response groups, as well as Hispanics when reporting a race. In contrast, race and ethnic responses for single-race non-Hispanic whites, blacks, and Asians were relatively consistent over the decade, as were ethnicity responses by Hispanics. People who change their race and/or Hispanic origin response(s) are doing so in a wide variety of ways, as anticipated by previous research. For example, people’s responses change from multiple races to a single race, from a single race to multiple races, from one single race to another, and some people add or drop a Hispanic response. The inflow of people to each race/Hispanic group is in many cases similar in size to the outflow from the same group, such that cross-sectional data would show a small net change. We find response changes across ages, sexes, regions, and response modes, with variation across groups. Researchers should consider the implications of changing race and Hispanic origin responses when conducting analyses and interpreting results.