An Examination of Changes in Social Disparities in Health Behaviors in the US, 2003-2015

Fleary, Sasha A.; Nigg, Claudio R.; Freund, Karen M. (2018). An Examination of Changes in Social Disparities in Health Behaviors in the US, 2003-2015. American journal of health behavior, 42(1), pp. 119-134. PNG Publications and Scientific Research 10.5993/AJHB.42.1.12

Full text not available from this repository.

Objectives: Due to growing health disparities, federal and philanthropic agencies have empha-sized reducing health disparities in their preventive health efforts. This study determined the status of disparities in health behaviors in the last 13 years in the United States.

Methods: Data were obtained from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Systems in odd years (2003-2015). Health behaviors were dichotomized to reflect met fruit and vegetable (FV) consumption and physical activity (PA) recommendations, non-cigarette smoking, non-heavy drinking, and non-binge drinking. Overall and sociodemographic characteristic-specific disparities ratios for each behavior were calculated. Linear trend analyses were calculated to determine disparities change across the years.

Results: Overall disparities fluctuated across the years. Linear trend analyses confirmed that education-specific and income-specific disparities' contribution to overall disparities increased for all behaviors. Sex-specific disparities' contribution decreased for all behaviors except non-cigarette smoking. Age-specific disparities' contribution decreased for all behaviors except non-binge drinking. Race/ethnicity-specific disparities' contribution to overall disparities increased for FV and non-cigarette smoking, but decreased for the other behaviors.

Conclusions: The results suggest health disparities in preventive health behaviors in the last 13 years have not improved. Tailored interventions, systemic and policy changes, and/or inclusive population efforts should be initiated to reduce disparities in preventive health for the most- divergent groups identified in the results.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

07 Faculty of Human Sciences > Institute of Sport Science (ISPW)

UniBE Contributor:

Nigg, Claudio Renato

Subjects:

700 Arts > 790 Sports, games & entertainment

ISSN:

1087-3244

Publisher:

PNG Publications and Scientific Research

Language:

English

Submitter:

Claudio Renato Nigg

Date Deposited:

06 Mar 2024 12:13

Last Modified:

01 Jul 2024 16:13

Publisher DOI:

10.5993/AJHB.42.1.12

PubMed ID:

29320345

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/193286

Actions (login required)

Edit item Edit item
Provide Feedback