Relationships of educational attainment and household food insecurity with obesity: Findings from the 2007–2016 national health and nutrition examination survey

Abstract

This study aimed to determine whether 1882 Black young adults’ educational attainment was associated with their obesity ([BMI] ≥ 30) and whether this association varied with household food insecurity. Data from interviews with Black young adults and a medical examination from the 2007–2016 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey were analyzed. Modified Poisson regressions with robust standard errors were used. Educational attainment was not associated with obesity (prevalence ratio [PR] = 1.05, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.85, 1.30) after adjusting for age, sex, marital status, smoking status, drinking status, income, health insurance status, physical activity level, and household food insecurity. The interaction between educational attainment and household food insecurity was also not significant (PR = 1.11, 95% CI: 0.56, 2.19) after adjusting for the same covariates. These findings indicated that college graduates were as likely to be obese as those with less education, and the relationship between educational attainment and obesity did not vary with household food insecurity. Future studies should conduct longitudinal analyses of these relationships. There is a need to identify the roles that education, household food insecurity, and other measures of socioeconomic status play in Black young adults’ obesity.