Neighbourhood socioeconomic status and cross-sectional associations with obesity and urinary biomarkers of diet among New York City adults: the heart follow-up study. Issue 12 (29th December 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Elfassy, Tali; Yi, Stella S; Llabre, Maria M; Schneiderman, Neil; Gellman, Marc; Florez, Hermes; Prado, Guillermo; Zeki Al Hazzouri, Adina
• Is Part Of: BMJ open. Volume 7:Issue 12(2017)
• Publication Date: 2017-12-29
• Subjects: public health -- epidemiology; Medicine -- Research -- Periodicals; 610.72
• DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2017-018566
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2044-6055

Abstract

Abstract : Objective: To determine whether neighbourhood socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC) and biomarkers of diet (urinary sodium and potassium excretion). Design: A cross-sectional study. Setting: The data reported were from the 2010 Heart Follow-up Study, a population-based representative survey of 1645 adults. Participants: Community-dwelling diverse residents of New York City nested within 128 neighbourhoods (zip codes). Primary and secondary outcome measures: BMI (kg/m 2 ) and WC (inches) were measured during in-home visits, and 24-hour urine sample was collected to measure biomarkers of diet: sodium (mg/day) and potassium (mg/day), with high sodium and low potassium indicative of worse diet quality. Results: After adjusting for individual-level characteristics using multilevel linear regressions, low versus high neighbourhood SES tertile was associated with 1.83 kg/m 2 higher BMI (95% CI 0.41 to 3.98) and 251 mg/day lower potassium excretion (95% CI −409 to 93) among women only, with no associations among men (P values for neighbourhood SES by sex interactions <0.05). Conclusion: Our results suggest that women may be particularly vulnerable to the effects of a socioeconomically disadvantaged neighbourhood. Future neighbourhood research should explore sex differences, as these can inform tailored interventions. Trial registration number: NCT01889589 ; Results.