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Epidemiology and Population Health

Birth cohort effects on abdominal obesity in the United States: the Silent Generation, Baby Boomers and Generation X

International Journal of Obesity volume 37, pages 1129–1134 (2013)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Abdominal obesity predicts a wide range of adverse health outcomes. Over the past several decades, prevalence of abdominal obesity has increased markedly in industrialized countries like the United States No previous analyses, however, have evaluated whether there are birth cohort effects for abdominal obesity. Estimating cohort effects is necessary to forecast future health trends and understand the past population-level trends.

METHODS:

This analysis evaluated whether there were birth cohort effects for abdominal obesity for the Silent Generation (born 1925–1945), children of the Great Depression; Baby Boomers (born 1946–1964); or Generation X (born 1965–1980). Cohort effects for prevalence of abdominal obesity were estimated using the median polish method with data collected from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) between 1988 and 2008. Respondents were aged 20–74 years.

RESULTS:

After taking into account age effects and ubiquitous secular changes, the Silent Generation and Generation X had higher cohort-specific prevalence of abdominal obesity than the Baby Boomers. Effects were more pronounced in women than men.

CONCLUSIONS:

This work presents a novel finding: evidence that the birth cohorts of the post-World War II Baby Boom appeared to have uniquely low cohort effects on abdominal obesity. The growing prosperity of the post-World War II US may have exposed the baby-boom generation to lower levels of psychosocial and socioeconomic stress than the previous or subsequent generations. By identifying factors associated with the Baby Boomers’ low cohort-specific sensitivity to the obesogenic environment, the obesity prevention community can identify early-life factors that can protect future generations from excess weight gain.

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Acknowledgements

Dr Robinson would like to thank the National Cancer Institute (1K01CA172717-01) and University Cancer Research Funds at the Lineberger Cancer Center at UNC-Chapel Hill for their financial support. Dr Keyes would like to thank the Columbia University Department of Epidemiology and New York State Psychiatric Institute for their financial support. Dr Utz would like to thank the University of Utah, Department of Sociology and NCI P01-CA13837 for current financial support. Ms Martin would like to thank the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and grant no. 5-T32-HD052468-04 for current financial support. Dr Yang is supported by NIA grant no. 1K01AG036745-01 and University Cancer Research Funds (UCRF) at the Lineberger Cancer Center at UNC-Chapel Hill.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    W R Robinson & C L Martin

  2. Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    W R Robinson & Y Yang

  3. Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    W R Robinson & Y Yang

  4. Department of Sociology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA

    R L Utz

  5. Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

    K M Keyes

  6. Department of Sociology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Y Yang

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Correspondence to W R Robinson.

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Robinson, W., Utz, R., Keyes, K. et al. Birth cohort effects on abdominal obesity in the United States: the Silent Generation, Baby Boomers and Generation X. Int J Obes 37, 1129–1134 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2012.198

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