ResearchCurrent ResearchNeighborhood Deprivation Is Associated with Lower Levels of Serum Carotenoids among Adults Participating in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey
Section snippets
Sample
Data files from the 1990 US Census were merged with NHANES III to form a contextual file that included information at both the census tract and individual level. NHANES III is a nationally representative sample of 39,695 community-dwelling respondents from 1988 through 1994. The survey protocol for NHANES includes an extensive survey instrument covering prevalent medical conditions, diet, health-related behaviors, a medical examination, and laboratory assays of blood and other physical
Results
Table 1 presents descriptive statistics for serum carotenoids by study variables. Mean levels of carotenoids decrease with increasing levels of neighborhood deprivation. The control variables follow expected patterns. Overall, higher levels of carotenoids are found among adults aged 65 years and older, women, non-Hispanic whites, employed, nonsmokers, former/never consumers of alcohol, physically active, nonobese, high cholesterol, incomes >$20,000, those with ≥12 years of education. In most
Discussion
This study examined the association of neighborhood deprivation and serum carotenoids using data from NHANES III linked with census tracts from the 1990 US Census. After adjustment for individual level demographic factors, SES, and health behaviors, neighborhood deprivation was negatively associated with four of the five carotenoids: β-carotene, α-carotene, lutein/zeaxanthin, and β-cryptoxanthin. Disparities in carotenoids were striking between low and high deprivation residential
J. P. Stimpson is an assistant professor, Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth; at the time of the study, he was a postdoctoral fellow, Sealy Center on Aging, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston.
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Cited by (0)
J. P. Stimpson is an assistant professor, Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth; at the time of the study, he was a postdoctoral fellow, Sealy Center on Aging, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston.
A. C. Nash is a doctoral student, Department of Preventive Medicine and Community Health, H. Ju is a biostatistician, and K. Eschbach is an associate professor, Department of Demography and Organization Studies, University of Texas at San Antonio. At the time of the study, K. Eschbach was associate professor, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston.