Lifetime Socioeconomic Status, Historical Context, and Genetic Inheritance in Shaping Body Mass in Middle and Late Adulthood.

ABSTRACT: This study demonstrates body mass in middle and late adulthood as a consequence of the complex interplay among individuals' genes, lifetime socioeconomic experiences, and the historical context in which they live. Drawing on approximately 9,000 genetic samples from the Health and Retirement Study, we first investigate how socioeconomic status (SES) over the life course moderates the impact of 32 established obesity-related genetic variants on body mass index (BMI) in middle and late adulthood. Further, we consider differences across birth cohorts in the genetic influence on BMI and cohort variations in the moderating effects of life-course SES on the genetic influence. Our analyses suggest that persistently low SES over the life course or downward mobility (e.g., high SES in childhood but

SUBMITTER: Liu H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4878452 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature