Yang YC, et al. – A scrutiny was pursued of the social disparities in the burdens of metabolic and inflammatory risks for cancer in the U.S. young adult population. In addition, this study gauged the psychosocial and behavioral mechanisms in such disparities. New knowledge was yielded from the data, with regard to the social distribution of early life exposures to physiologic precedents to cancer development later in life with implications for prevention and early intervention of modifiable risky behaviors, among adolescents and young adults.

Methods

• The enrollment consisted of 7,889 individuals aged 12-32 years.
• Data was cumulated from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health from 1994 to 2009.
• Generalized linear models examined the sex, race/ethnicity, and SES variations in the risks of obesity and inflammation, measured by C-reactive protein.
• Additional analyses explored the extent to which social isolation, smoking, physical inactivity, alcohol abuse, and illicit drug use elucidated the social differentials in each biomarker outcome.

Results

• Higher risks of obesity and elevated C-reactive protein were reported in women, blacks, Hispanics, and socioeconomically disadvantaged groups.
• The SES gradients were more pronounced in female enrollees. Health-related behaviors illustrated large variation across sex, race, and SES strata.
• After adjusting for these behavioral variables, sex, and race disparities in obesity and excess inflammation in blacks diminished.
• However, the adolescent SES disparity in obesity persisted.
• The correlations of adolescent and young adult SES disadvantage and inflammation were elucidated through behavioral mechanisms.
• Behavioral factors related to higher risks of obesity and inflammation varied, with the exception of fast food consumption, a risk factor for both.