Intergenerational social networks and health behaviors among children living in public housing

A. Kennedy-Hendricks, H. Schwartz, R.J. Thornton, B.A. Griffin, Green, H.D.,, D.P. Kennedy, S. Burkhauser and C.E. Pollack

American Journal of Public Health, 2015, vol. 105, issue 11, 2291-2297

Abstract: Objectives. In a survey of families living in public housing, we investigated whether caretakers' social networks are linked with children's health status. Methods. In 2011, 209 children and their caretakers living in public housing in suburban Montgomery County, Maryland, were surveyed regarding their health and social networks. We used logistic regression models to examine the associations between the perceived health composition of caretaker social networks and corresponding child health characteristics (e.g., exercise, diet). Results. With each 10% increase in the proportion of the caretaker's social network that exercised regularly, the child's odds of exercising increased by 34% (adjusted odds ratio = 1.34; 95% confidence interval = 1.07, 1.69) after the caretaker's own exercise behavior and the composition of the child's peer network had been taken into account. Although children's overweight or obese status was associated with caretakers' social networks, the results were no longer significant after adjustment for caretakers' own weight status. Conclusions. We found that caretaker social networks are independently associated with certain aspects of child health, suggesting the importance of the broader social environment for low-income children's health.

Keywords: adolescent; ancestry group; body weight; caregiver; child; diet; exercise; female; health behavior; health status; housing; human; human relation; male; Overweight; social environment; social support; socioeconomics; statistics and numerical data; United States, Adolescent; Body Weight; Caregivers; Child; Continental Population Groups; Diet; Exercise; Female; Health Behavior; Health Status; Humans; Intergenerational Relations; Male; Maryland; Overweight; Public Housing; Social Environment; Social Support; Socioeconomic Factors (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.2105/AJPH.2015.302663

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2015.302663_9

DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2015.302663

Access Statistics for this article

American Journal of Public Health is currently edited by Alfredo Morabia

More articles in American Journal of Public Health from American Public Health Association
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Christopher F Baum ().