Understanding the relation between socioeconomic position and inflammation in post-menopausal women: education, income and occupational prestige

Genetic, Social, and Lifestyle Drivers of Healthy Aging and Longevity

Purpose of Review

"Healthy aging" is the state of the aging process in which a person can maintain physical, social, mental, and spiritual wellness. This literature review presents an overview of recent studies that explore how biological, social, and environmental factors contribute to healthy aging.

Recent Findings

A number of genome-wide association studies have been conducted recently for traits related to healthy aging, such as frailty index, healthspan, muscle strength, and parental longevity, leading to the discovery of dozens of genetic variants associated with these traits. In parallel, associations between healthy aging measures and multiple non-biological environmental elements have been identified as key moderators of the aging process, indirectly influencing day-to-day homeostatic processes.

Summary

Individual variations in lifespan and healthspan are influenced by genetic factors, with a heritability of ~ 25% in developed countries. Non-genetic risk variance is explained in part by social, cultural, and lifestyle conditions. Altogether, these factors contribute to a multifaceted state of wellness over time, shaping individual risk to frailty and resilience during the aging process. Notably, "Blue Zone" populations, which are characterized by an abundance in healthy lifestyles across generations, share some commonalities regarding determinants of health.

Occupations Associated With Poor Cardiovascular Health in Women: The Women's Health Initiative Observational Study

INTRODUCTION

Research on the effect of occupation on cardiovascular health (CVH) among older women is limited.

METHODS

Each of the seven American Heart Association's CVH metrics was scored as ideal (1) or non-ideal (0) and summed. Multivariable logistic regression was used to estimate the odds of poor overall CVH (CVH score of 0 to 2) comparing women employed in each of the top 20 occupational categories to those not employed in that category, adjusting for age, marital status, and race/ethnicity.

RESULTS

(1) Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks; (2) first-line supervisors of sales workers; (3) first-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers; and (4) nursing, psychiatric, and home health aides were more likely to have poor overall CVH compared to women who did not work in these occupations.

CONCLUSIONS

Several commonly held occupations among women were associated with poor CVH.

Occupational Differences in C-Reactive Protein Among Working-Age Adults in South Korea

OBJECTIVE

To examine the association between occupational class and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) in Korean workers.

METHODS

We used a nationally representative sample of Koreans (n = 2591) aged 19 to 65 years from the 2015 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The concentration of hsCRP (mg/L) was assessed by a high sensitivity immunoturbidimetric assay. Current occupation was categorized as: white-collar (managers/professionals), pink-collar (clerks/service/sales), blue-collar (craft/equipment/machine-assembling, agricultural/forestry/fishery, and elementary-level labor), or unemployed. Cross-sectional linear regression models adjusted for sociodemographic/work-related/health conditions and behaviors.

RESULTS

Compared with blue-collar workers, white-collar workers showed significantly higher levels of hsCRP (β = 0.16, 95% CI: 0.02, 0.30) after adjusting for all covariates, whereby the pattern was more pronounced among professionals. However, the association was not significant for unemployed and pink-collar workers.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings suggest that Korean white-collar workers, particularly professionals, have elevated levels of inflammation.

Positive Parenting Moderates the Effect of Socioeconomic Status on Executive Functioning: A Three-Generation Approach

OBJECTIVE

While low parental socioeconomic status (SES) has been associated with lower levels of child executive functioning (EF), few have examined the intergenerational effect of SES on child EF across three generations. We adopt a resilience framework to investigate positive parenting as a protective factor in the intergenerational effect of low SES on child EF.

METHODS

In a sample of 50 parents (70% female) and their oldest child (56% female, M _age = 12.38) from the Flint Adolescent Study, we estimated the effect of grandparent SES on child EF (i.e., Animal Sorting, Inhibition, Inhibition Switching) and examined the protective role of positive parenting using a multivariate regression model.

RESULTS

Lower levels of grandparent SES was associated with lower levels of cognitive flexibility (i.e., Animal Sorting), but not inhibition (i.e., Inhibition, Inhibition Switching), at low levels of positive parenting.

CONCLUSION

These findings indicate the varied ways by which intergenerational SES may shape child EF. Further, positive parenting may offset the intergenerational influence of SES on child EF outcomes.

Educational Attainment Promotes Fruit and Vegetable Intake for Whites but Not Blacks

Background

Although the protective effects of socioeconomic status (SES) on health behaviors are well-known, according to the minorities' diminished return theory, the health return of SES, particularly educational attainment, is systemically smaller for minorities than Whites. Aims. The current study explored Black-White differences in the effects of educational attainment and income on the consumption of fruits and vegetables.

Methods

This cross-sectional study used the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) 2017 (n = 3217). HINTS is a nationally representative survey of American adults. The current analysis included 2277 adults who were either non-Hispanic White (n = 1868; 82%) or non-Hispanic Black (n = 409; 18%). The independent variables in this study were SES (educational attainment and income). The dependent variable was consumption of fruits and vegetables. Race was the focal moderator.

Results

In the overall sample, high educational attainment and income were associated with higher consumption of fruits and vegetables. Race moderated the effect of educational attainment but not income on the consumption of fruits and vegetables.

Conclusion

In line with the past research in the United States, Whites constantly gain more health benefits from the very same educational attainment than Blacks. The health gain from income is more equal across races than the health gain from educational attainment. Such diminished returns may be due to racism across institutions in the United States.