title: Insights in public health: Is the gap growing? Patterns in poverty-related disparities in nutrition and physical activity in Hawai'i.
abstract: A recent Harvard study on national dietary trends found that the gap in healthy dietary behaviors between low-income and middle/upper-income Americans widened between 2000 and 2010. Hawai'i Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data from 2001-2009 on differences in obesity-related behaviors between moderate-high income, low-income, and poverty-level Hawai'i residents were examined to explore whether Hawai'i data on obesity-related behaviors reflected this national trend. While most differences between groups were not statistically significant, a consistent pattern was seen across all measures that suggested a growing gap between low-income and moderate/high income Hawai'i residents. Data from community studies on pedestrian injury, park use, transportation, and healthy food access were examined. This data suggests that individuals residing in low-income neighborhoods in Hawai'i experience higher barriers to the adoption of healthier behaviors. Further data is needed to document poverty-related gaps in the adoption of health behaviors among youth and within Hawai'i's ethnic groups, communities and geographic areas.
authors.affiliation: Office of Public Health Studies, University of Hawai'i at Manoa, Honolulu, HI.
authors.forename: Vanessa
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Buchthal
mesh_terms: D006254:Hawaii / Q000208:ethnology; D015438:Health Behavior; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006801:Humans; D009765:Obesity / Q000208:ethnology; D011203:Poverty / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012923:Social Class