Obesity is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality and is inversely associated with economic resources in the US. Despite the well-documented correlation between decreased individual- and community-level eco- nomic resources and increased obesity, few existing studies have been capable of attributing a causal impact to the effect of economic resources on obesity, particularly among children. Determining the extent to which economic resources are causal antecedents to weight-related health outcomes is vitally important for informing structural approaches for improving population health. I am seeking the Pathway to Independence Award in order to gain the additional training required to accomplish my career goal: to establish an independent pro- gram of research that rigorously investigates socioeconomic inputs to health and productively bridges epidemi- ology, nutrition, public health, economics, and social psychology. The training portion of this project includes formal courses, directed readings, attendance of scholarly seminars, apprenticeships, and mentored career building activities to gain skills in the following key areas: 1) economics and econometrics, 2) social psycho- logical theories of SES-health relationships, 3) primary data collection and qualitative data analysis. The newly acquired knowledge and skills will be applied in the research component of the project. The research compo- nent of this project proposes a quasi-experimental approach to examine the extent to which increased eco- nomic resources are associated with maternal weight gain and childhood obesity. I propose that the introduc- tion of casino-style gaming to American Indian tribal lands offers a unique opportunity to determine how an ex- ogenous, sustained influx of economic resources to American Indian communities impacts population health. We will leverage existing geographically-linked vital records and school fitness testing records in combination with space-time variation in casino openings in the state of California to accomplish the following specific aims: 1) Determine the extent to which an exogenous increase in economic resources affects: a) excessive gesta- tional weight gain, b) large-for-gestational-age infant birth weight, and c) child obesity; 2) Assess how eco- nomic resources stemming from casinos may affect weight-related health through the collection of formative, qualitative data; 3) Collect quantitative data in order to assess mediating or moderating mechanisms between exogenous economic resources and weight-related health. The training and research activities will feed into publications and conference presentations, and will prepare me to compete successfully for R01 funding during the R00 phase of the project.

Public Health Relevance

Obesity is inversely related to socioeconomic status and disproportionately represented among racial/ethnic minority populations in the United States. This study will address the extent to which improvements in economic resources among American Indian/Alaska Natives communities can lead to decreased risk of obesity for women and children in these populations.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD)
Type
Research Transition Award (R00)
Project #
5R00HD073327-04
Application #
8782585
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (NSS)
Program Officer
King, Rosalind B
Project Start
2013-12-08
Project End
2016-10-31
Budget Start
2014-11-01
Budget End
2015-10-31
Support Year
4
Fiscal Year
2015
Total Cost
$153,074
Indirect Cost
$75,938
Name
Johns Hopkins University
Department
Public Health & Prev Medicine
Type
DUNS #
001910777
City
Baltimore
State
MD
Country
United States
Zip Code
21218
Oddo, Vanessa M; Surkan, Pamela J; Hurley, Kristen M et al. (2018) Pathways of the association between maternal employment and weight status among women and children: Qualitative findings from Guatemala. Matern Child Nutr 14:
Oddo, Vanessa M; Mueller, Noel T; Pollack, Keshia M et al. (2017) Maternal employment and childhood overweight in low- and middle-income countries. Public Health Nutr 20:2523-2536
Oddo, Vanessa M; Bleich, Sara N; Pollack, Keshia M et al. (2017) The weight of work: the association between maternal employment and overweight in low- and middle-income countries. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act 14:66
Mui, Yeeli; Jones-Smith, Jessica C; Thornton, Rachel L J et al. (2017) Relationships between Vacant Homes and Food Swamps: A Longitudinal Study of an Urban Food Environment. Int J Environ Res Public Health 14:
Jones-Smith, Jessica C; Dow, William H; Oddo, Vanessa M (2017) Association between Native American-owned casinos and the prevalence of large-for-gestational-age births. Int J Epidemiol 46:1202-1210
Wong, Michelle S; Jones-Smith, Jessica C; Colantuoni, Elizabeth et al. (2017) The Longitudinal Association Between Early Childhood Obesity and Fathers' Involvement in Caregiving and Decision-Making. Obesity (Silver Spring) 25:1754-1761
Beheshti, Rahmatollah; Jones-Smith, Jessica C; Igusa, Takeru (2017) Taking dietary habits into account: A computational method for modeling food choices that goes beyond price. PLoS One 12:e0178348
Mui, Yeeli; Gittelsohn, Joel; Jones-Smith, Jessica C (2017) Longitudinal Associations between Change in Neighborhood Social Disorder and Change in Food Swamps in an Urban Setting. J Urban Health 94:75-86
Beheshti, Rahmatollah; Igusa, Takeru; Jones-Smith, Jessica (2016) Simulated Models Suggest That Price per Calorie Is the Dominant Price Metric That Low-Income Individuals Use for Food Decision Making. J Nutr 146:2304-2311
Kodish, Stephen R; Gittelsohn, Joel; Oddo, Vanessa M et al. (2016) Impacts of casinos on key pathways to health: qualitative findings from American Indian gaming communities in California. BMC Public Health 16:621

Showing the most recent 10 out of 19 publications