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Mendez I, Strassle PD, Rodriquez EJ, Ponce S, Le R, Green A, Martinez E, Pérez-Stable EJ, Nápoles AM. Racial and ethnic disparities in the association between financial hardship and self-reported weight change during the first year of the pandemic in the U.S. Int J Equity Health 2024; 23:12. [PMID: 38254081 PMCID: PMC10804602 DOI: 10.1186/s12939-023-02093-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2023] [Accepted: 12/30/2023] [Indexed: 01/24/2024] Open
Abstract
Studies have shown that financial hardship can impact weight change; however, it is unclear what the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has had on weight change in U.S. adults, or whether racial-ethnic groups were impacted differentially. We estimated the association between financial hardship and self-reported weight change using data from the cross-sectional COVID-19's Unequal Racial Burden (CURB) survey, a nationally representative online survey of 5,500 American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian, Black/African American, Latino (English- and Spanish-speaking), Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, White, and multiracial adults conducted from 12/2020 to 2/2021. Financial hardship was measured over six domains (lost income, debt, unmet general expenses, unmet healthcare expenses, housing insecurity, and food insecurity). The association between each financial hardship domain and self-reported 3-level weight change variable were estimated using multinomial logistic regression, adjusting for sociodemographic and self-reported health. After adjustment, food insecurity was strongly associated with weight loss among American Indian/Alaska Native (aOR = 2.18, 95% CI = 1.05-4.77), Black/African American (aOR = 1.77, 95% CI = 1.02-3.11), and Spanish-speaking Latino adults (aOR = 2.32, 95% CI = 1.01-5.35). Unmet healthcare expenses were also strongly associated with weight loss among Black/African American, English-speaking Latino, Spanish-speaking Latino, and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander adults (aORs = 2.00-2.14). Other domains were associated with weight loss and/or weight gain, but associations were not as strong and less consistent across race-ethnicity. In conclusion, food insecurity and unmet healthcare expenses during the pandemic were strongly associated with weight loss among racial-ethnic minority groups. Using multi-dimensional measures of financial hardship provides a comprehensive assessment of the effects of specific financial hardship domains on weight change among diverse racial-ethnic groups.
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Affiliation(s)
- Izabelle Mendez
- Division of Intramural Research, National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland), USA.
| | - Paula D Strassle
- Division of Intramural Research, National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland), USA
| | - Erik J Rodriquez
- Division of Intramural Research, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland), USA
- Office of the Director, National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland), USA
| | - Stephanie Ponce
- Division of Intramural Research, National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland), USA
| | - Randy Le
- Division of Intramural Research, National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland), USA
| | - Alexis Green
- Division of Intramural Research, National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland), USA
| | - Emma Martinez
- Division of Intramural Research, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland), USA
| | - Eliseo J Pérez-Stable
- Division of Intramural Research, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland), USA
- Office of the Director, National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland), USA
| | - Anna M Nápoles
- Division of Intramural Research, National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland), USA
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