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

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. Access through your institution Buy or subscribe This is a preview

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CIRCUMFERENCE TRAJECTORIES ACROSS THE LIFE COURSE AND BIRTH COHORTS, 1996–2015 MALAYSIA: SEX AND ETHNICITY MATTER Article Open access 13 October 2023 TRAJECTORIES AND DETERMINANTS OF WEIGHT

GAIN IN TWO COHORTS OF YOUNG ADULT WOMEN BORN 16 YEARS APART Article 03 May 2021 OVERWEIGHT AND OBESITY AT AGE 19 AFTER PRE-NATAL FAMINE EXPOSURE Article Open access 10 May 2021 REFERENCES *

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2002-2004. _Soc Sci Med_ 2011; 72: 1667–1673. Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar  Download references ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Dr Robinson would like to thank the National Cancer

Institute (1K01CA172717-01) and University Cancer Research Funds at the Lineberger Cancer Center at UNC-Chapel Hill for their financial support. Dr Keyes would like to thank the Columbia

University Department of Epidemiology and New York State Psychiatric Institute for their financial support. Dr Utz would like to thank the University of Utah, Department of Sociology and NCI

P01-CA13837 for current financial support. Ms Martin would like to thank the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and grant no. 5-T32-HD052468-04 for current financial support. Dr

Yang is supported by NIA grant no. 1K01AG036745-01 and University Cancer Research Funds (UCRF) at the Lineberger Cancer Center at UNC-Chapel Hill. AUTHOR INFORMATION AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS

* Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA W R Robinson & C L Martin * Carolina Population

Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA W R Robinson & Y Yang * Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, Chapel Hill, NC, USA W R Robinson & Y Yang *

Department of Sociology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA R L Utz * Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA K M Keyes

* Department of Sociology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA Y Yang Authors * W R Robinson View author publications You can also search for this author

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this author inPubMed Google Scholar CORRESPONDING AUTHOR Correspondence to W R Robinson. ETHICS DECLARATIONS COMPETING INTERESTS The authors declare no conflict of interest. RIGHTS AND

PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Robinson, W., Utz, R., Keyes, K. _et al._ Birth cohort effects on abdominal obesity in the United States: the Silent

Generation, Baby Boomers and Generation X. _Int J Obes_ 37, 1129–1134 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2012.198 Download citation * Received: 26 September 2012 * Revised: 01 November

2012 * Accepted: 06 November 2012 * Published: 11 December 2012 * Issue Date: August 2013 * DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2012.198 SHARE THIS ARTICLE Anyone you share the following link

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content-sharing initiative KEYWORDS * age–period–cohort * abdominal obesity * demography * sex differences