TY - JOUR
T1 - The weight of networks
T2 - the role of social ties and ethnic media in mitigating obesity and hypertension among Latinas
AU - Walter, Nathan
AU - Robbins, Chris
AU - Murphy, Sheila T.
AU - Ball-Rokeach, Sandra J.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by National Cancer Institute: [grant number R01CA155326].
Publisher Copyright:
© 2017, © 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2019/10/3
Y1 - 2019/10/3
N2 - Objectives: Latinos have a disproportionately high risk for obesity and hypertension. The current study analyzes survey data from Latin American women to detect differences in rates of obesity and hypertension based on their number of health-related social ties. Additionally, it proposes individuals’ health-related media preference (ethnic/ mainstream) as a potential moderator. Design: The dataset includes 364 Latinas (21–50 years old) from the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area, who responded to a series of sociodemographic, physiological, health-related, and media-related questions. Results: Controlling for various sociodemographic and health variables, each additional health-related tie in a Latina’s social network significantly decreased her likelihood of being obese OR =.79, p =.041, 95% CI [.66,.95], but did not affect hypertension. Further, the analysis revealed a significant interaction between media preference and health-related social ties, such that exposure to ethnic media tended to compensate for the absence of social ties for the likelihood of obesity OR =.75, p =.041, 95% CI [.52,.97], as well as hypertension OR =.79, p =.045, 95% CI [.55,.98]. Conclusion: In concurrence with the literature, increases in health-related ties reduced the likelihood of obesity in this population. Moreover, ethnic media preference may play an important role in mitigating the likelihood of obesity and hypertension among Latinas.
AB - Objectives: Latinos have a disproportionately high risk for obesity and hypertension. The current study analyzes survey data from Latin American women to detect differences in rates of obesity and hypertension based on their number of health-related social ties. Additionally, it proposes individuals’ health-related media preference (ethnic/ mainstream) as a potential moderator. Design: The dataset includes 364 Latinas (21–50 years old) from the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area, who responded to a series of sociodemographic, physiological, health-related, and media-related questions. Results: Controlling for various sociodemographic and health variables, each additional health-related tie in a Latina’s social network significantly decreased her likelihood of being obese OR =.79, p =.041, 95% CI [.66,.95], but did not affect hypertension. Further, the analysis revealed a significant interaction between media preference and health-related social ties, such that exposure to ethnic media tended to compensate for the absence of social ties for the likelihood of obesity OR =.75, p =.041, 95% CI [.52,.97], as well as hypertension OR =.79, p =.045, 95% CI [.55,.98]. Conclusion: In concurrence with the literature, increases in health-related ties reduced the likelihood of obesity in this population. Moreover, ethnic media preference may play an important role in mitigating the likelihood of obesity and hypertension among Latinas.
KW - Latinas
KW - body mass index
KW - ethnic media
KW - health behaviors
KW - hypertension
KW - mainstream media
KW - obesity
KW - social networks
KW - socioeconomic status
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85028891849&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85028891849&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/13557858.2017.1373071
DO - 10.1080/13557858.2017.1373071
M3 - Article
C2 - 28862887
AN - SCOPUS:85028891849
VL - 24
SP - 790
EP - 803
JO - Ethnicity and Health
JF - Ethnicity and Health
SN - 1355-7858
IS - 7
ER -