title: Birth cohort effects on abdominal obesity in the United States: the Silent Generation, Baby Boomers and Generation X.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Abdominal obesity predicts a wide range of adverse health outcomes. Over the past several decades, prevalence of abdominal obesity has increased markedly in industrialized countries like the United States No previous analyses, however, have evaluated whether there are birth cohort effects for abdominal obesity. Estimating cohort effects is necessary to forecast future health trends and understand the past population-level trends.
  
  
  METHODS
  This analysis evaluated whether there were birth cohort effects for abdominal obesity for the Silent Generation (born 1925-1945), children of the Great Depression; Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964); or Generation X (born 1965-1980). Cohort effects for prevalence of abdominal obesity were estimated using the median polish method with data collected from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) between 1988 and 2008. Respondents were aged 20-74 years.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After taking into account age effects and ubiquitous secular changes, the Silent Generation and Generation X had higher cohort-specific prevalence of abdominal obesity than the Baby Boomers. Effects were more pronounced in women than men.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This work presents a novel finding: evidence that the birth cohorts of the post-World War II Baby Boom appeared to have uniquely low cohort effects on abdominal obesity. The growing prosperity of the post-World War II US may have exposed the baby-boom generation to lower levels of psychosocial and socioeconomic stress than the previous or subsequent generations. By identifying factors associated with the Baby Boomers' low cohort-specific sensitivity to the obesogenic environment, the obesity prevention community can identify early-life factors that can protect future generations from excess weight gain.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA. whitney_robinson@unc.edu
authors.forename: W R
authors.initials: WR
authors.lastname: Robinson
authors.forename: R L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Utz
authors.forename: K M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Keyes
authors.forename: C L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D015988:Cohort Effect; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D056128:Obesity, Abdominal / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D011158:Population Growth; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology