Childhood overweight and obesity are major public health problems in the United States. Children who experience poverty are 1.5 times more likely to suffer with overweight and 1.6 times more likely to have obesity. The extent to which overweight or obesity exacerbates the negative influence of socioeconomic inequality on child academic outcomes has not yet been examined. We estimated the effect of poverty on math and reading achievement trajectories using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS) Kindergarten class of 1998−1999 survey data and multilevel growth curve modeling techniques. Our findings indicate that the impact of obesity status is more pronounced for children from low socioeconomic backgrounds in both reading and math achievement, as well as for children with overweight in reading achievement scores. Thus, we see evidence that overweight and obesity moderate the pathway through which early-childhood poverty affects school performance. Given that we identified overweight and obesity as putative mechanisms through which socioeconomic deprivation affects academic achievement, focusing on overweight and obesity prevention may alter students’ academic trajectories. Taken together, we see evidence that the combined negative effect of increased weight status and poverty, beyond the independent effects of each, has far-reaching consequences for educational outcomes.

中文翻译：

---

儿童肥胖调节贫困与学业成绩之间的关联

儿童超重和肥胖是美国的主要公共卫生问题。经历贫困的儿童超重的可能性是其 1.5 倍，肥胖的可能性是其 1.6 倍。超重或肥胖加剧社会经济不平等对儿童学业成绩的负面影响的程度尚未得到研究。我们使用 1998-1999 年幼儿纵向研究 (ECLS) 幼儿园班级的调查数据和多级增长曲线建模技术估计了贫困对数学和阅读成绩轨迹的影响。我们的研究结果表明，肥胖状况对社会经济背景低的儿童在阅读和数学成绩方面的影响更为明显，对阅读成绩分数超重的儿童也有更明显的影响。因此，我们看到有证据表明超重和肥胖可以缓和儿童早期贫困影响学校表现的途径。鉴于我们将超重和肥胖确定为社会经济剥夺影响学业成绩的假定机制，因此关注超重和肥胖预防可能会改变学生的学业轨迹。综上所述，我们看到有证据表明体重增加和贫困的综合负面影响超出了各自的独立影响，对教育成果产生了深远的影响。关注超重和肥胖预防可能会改变学生的学业轨迹。综上所述，我们看到有证据表明体重增加和贫困的综合负面影响超出了各自的独立影响，对教育成果产生了深远的影响。关注超重和肥胖预防可能会改变学生的学业轨迹。综上所述，我们看到有证据表明体重增加和贫困的综合负面影响超出了各自的独立影响，对教育成果产生了深远的影响。