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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: AJPH.2007.111609v1 98/3/468    most recent Submit a response Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Yang, S. Articles by Raghunathan, T. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Yang, S. Articles by Raghunathan, T. Related Collections Epidemiology Obesity, Overweight, Underweight Adolescent Health Socioeconomic Factors Other Tobacco

Seungmi Yang, PhD, John Lynch, PhD, John Schulenberg, PhD, Ana V. Diez Roux, PhD and Trivellore Raghunathan, PhD

Seungmi Yang and John Lynch are with the Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec. John Schulenberg is with the Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Ana V. Diez Roux is with the Center for Social Epidemiology and Population Health, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Trivellore Raghunathan is with the Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Seungmi Yang, Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, McGill University, 1020 Pine Ave West, Montreal, Quebec H3A 12A, Canada (e-mail: seungmi.yang{at}mcgill.ca).

Objectives. We examined whether socioeconomic inequalities in smoking and overweight and obesity emerged in early adulthood and the contribution of family background, adolescent smoking, and body mass index to socioeconomic inequalities.

Methods. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health we employed multinomial regression analyses to estimate relative odds of heavy or light-to-moderate smoking to nonsmoking and of overweight or obesity to normal weight.

Results. For smoking, we found inequalities by young adult socioeconomic position in both genders after controlling for family background and smoking during adolescence. However, family socioeconomic position was not strongly associated with smoking in early adulthood. For overweight and obesity, we found socioeconomic inequalities only among women both by young adult and family socioeconomic position after adjusting for birthweight, other family background, and body mass index during adolescence.

Conclusions. Socioeconomic inequalities in smoking emerged in early adulthood according to socioeconomic position. Among women, inequalities in overweight or obesity were already evident by family socioeconomic position and strengthened by their own socioeconomic position. The relative importance of family background and current socioeconomic circumstances varied between smoking and overweight or obesity.