American journal of preventive medicine
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This article reviews selected theoretical approaches explaining the social determinants of obesity. The significance of this topic for medicine, public health, and other areas of obesity-related research is the growing body of evidence showing that the social environment is often key to understanding the risk of obesity. ⋯ Because the social determinants of obesity often begin in childhood, life course theory and its concepts of cumulative advantage/disadvantage and cumulative inequality are initially reviewed, followed by a discussion of how fundamental cause theory, health lifestyle theory, and cultural capital theory can be applied to obesity research. The stress process model and the concepts of social networks and neighborhood disadvantage concerning obesity are also included.
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The ability to predict and prevent homelessness has been an elusive goal. The purpose of this study was to develop a prediction model that identified U.S. Army soldiers at high risk of becoming homeless after transitioning to civilian life based on information available before the time of this transition. ⋯ A prediction model for homelessness can accurately target soldiers for preventive intervention before transition to civilian life.
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Whether diabetes is associated with hypertension risk remains controversial, potentially owing to the confounding effect of lifestyle. This study aims to analyze the association between diabetes and hypertension in adults and the mediating impacts of lifestyle. ⋯ Diabetes is positively and largely independently associated with hypertension risk. Yet, a healthy lifestyle can attenuate this association.
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U.S. residents had varying experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic and social safety net policy in 2020. Past research has suggested that partisanship, ideology, racial attitudes, and personal experience may each influence policy attitudes. In this study, we explore whether variation in support for social safety net policy in 2020 is predicted by negative experiences of the pandemic when controlling for racial attitudes, partisanship, and ideology. ⋯ Despite the pandemic's consequences as well as the potential for social safety net policy to address these consequences, negative experiences of the pandemic failed to predict policy support, even as racial attitudes, partisanship, and ideology strongly predicted these preferences in 2020. Building public support for social safety net policy requires communication strategies that identify the shared benefits of these policies.
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Cesarean section and induced deliveries have increased substantially in the U.S., coinciding with increases in autism spectrum disorder. Studies have documented associations between cesarean section deliveries and autism spectrum disorder but have not comprehensively accounted for medical risks. This study evaluates the extent to which cesarean section and induced deliveries are associated with autism spectrum disorder in low-risk births. ⋯ After accounting for medical risks, elective deliveries-particularly cesarean section deliveries-were associated with a substantially increased risk of autism spectrum disorder.