title: Disparities in women's health across a generation: a mother-daughter comparison.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has set national goals to eliminate health disparities by race, sex, and socioeconomic status. Progress in meeting these goals has been mixed. This paper provides a different view on the evolving health of U.S. women by examining a sample of daughters and their mothers.
  
  
  METHODS
  The aim was to determine if the health risk profiles of daughters (born 1975-1992) were different from their mothers (born 1957-1964) measured when both were between the ages of 17 and 24 years. The U.S.-based National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 and associated Children and Young Adult Surveys were used. The sample was 2411 non-Hispanic white and African American girls born to 1701 mothers. Outcomes were height, weight, body mass index (BMI), age of menarche, and self-reported health.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In both races, daughters were taller but entered adulthood at greater risk for the development of chronic illness than their mothers. Racial differences were greater in the daughters' generation than in the mothers'. Whites in both generations experienced educational differences in health based upon the mother's educational level, with fewer years of maternal education associated with poorer health. African Americans of both generations experienced differences by maternal education in self-reported health. However, when African American daughters were compared with their mothers, daughters born to college educated women gained more weight and had higher BMI and earlier menarche than did daughters born to high school dropouts.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Health deterioration across generations in both races suggests that much work is needed to meet Healthy People 2020 goals of health equity.
authors: Department of Nursing, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA. salsberry.1@osu.edu
authors: Pamela J
authors: PJ
authors: Salsberry
authors: Patricia B
authors: PB
authors: Reagan
authors: Muriel Z
authors: MZ
authors: Fang
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D044383:Black People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015992:Body Mass Index; D015988:Cohort Effect; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008572:Menarche / Q000208:ethnology; D009035:Mothers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009679:Nuclear Family; D018570:Risk Assessment; D057566:Self Report; D014481:United States; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016387:Women's Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult; D001741:Black or African American
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