The weight of school entry: Weight gain among Hispanic children of immigrants during the elementary school years

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dc.citation.firstpage95en_US
dc.citation.journalTitleDemographic Researchen_US
dc.citation.lastpage120en_US
dc.citation.volumeNumber40en_US
dc.contributor.authorFrisco, Michelle L.en_US
dc.contributor.authorBaumgartner, Erinen_US
dc.contributor.authorVan Hook, Jenniferen_US
dc.contributor.orgHouston Education Research Consortiumen_US
dc.date.accessioned2021-12-17T20:08:19Zen_US
dc.date.available2021-12-17T20:08:19Zen_US
dc.date.issued2019en_US
dc.description.abstractBackground: Hispanic children of immigrants are vulnerable to obesity and weigh more than their white peers. Theory suggests that school is a social institution that could foster weight gain among Hispanic children of immigrants and disparities in weight that emerge over time. Objective: We investigate whether Hispanic children of immigrants gain more weight during school years than whites and whether school year weight gains accumulate and contribute to differences in the weight of Hispanic children of immigrants and whites. Methods: We analyze ECLS-K:2011 kindergarten, first, and second grade data using descriptive statistics and multilevel growth curve models. We also calculate how the accumulation of weight gain during school years and summer breaks contributes to weight disparities between Hispanic children of immigrants and whites by the end of second grade. Results: Hispanic children of immigrants gain significantly more weight than white and Hispanic children with US-born parents during the kindergarten school year. The accumulation of weight gain during kindergarten, first, and second grade school years contributes to weight disparities between Hispanic children of immigrants and whites, but not differences between Hispanic and white children with US-born parents. Conclusions: Hispanic children of immigrants are vulnerable to weight gain during kindergarten. In addition, weight gain during the earliest school years helps to explain emerging ethnic/parental nativity disparities in weight. Contribution: The paper extends knowledge about negative health assimilation among Hispanic children of immigrants by showing that a primary social institution in children’s lives may inadvertently contribute to weight gain and emerging disparities in weight.en_US
dc.identifier.citationFrisco, Michelle L., Baumgartner, Erin and Van Hook, Jennifer. "The weight of school entry: Weight gain among Hispanic children of immigrants during the elementary school years." <i>Demographic Research,</i> 40, (2019) Max Planck Society: 95-120. https://doi.org/10.4054/DemRes.2019.40.5.en_US
dc.identifier.digital26726994en_US
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.4054/DemRes.2019.40.5en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1911/111875en_US
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.publisherMax Planck Societyen_US
dc.rightsThis open-access work is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Germany (CC BY 3.0 DE), which permits use, reproduction, and distribution in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are given credit.en_US
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/de/legalcodeen_US
dc.titleThe weight of school entry: Weight gain among Hispanic children of immigrants during the elementary school yearsen_US
dc.typeJournal articleen_US
dc.type.dcmiTexten_US
dc.type.publicationpublisher versionen_US
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