Equity in Obesity Review.

Obesity disproportionately affects racial and ethnic minoritized populations and those of lower socioeconomic status. Similarly, disparities exist in the development of its downstream consequences, such as type 2 diabetes and hypertension. The causes of these disparities are multifactorial and are influenced by structural factors such as segregation and healthcare access, and individual-level factors such as weight stigma.

Plant-Based Diets and Risk of Hospitalization with Respiratory Infection: Results from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study.

The benefits of plant-based diets may depend on the type of plant. To determine the associations of healthy and unhealthy plant-based diet types on risk of hospitalization with respiratory infections or any infection, we used dietary intake data reported in a food frequency questionnaire from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study to calculate a plant-based diet index (PDI), a healthy PDI (HPDI), and an unhealthy PDI (UPDI). Cox regression was used to calculate hazard ratios for the associations of the three plant-based diet indices with the risk of hospitalization with respiratory infections and any infection-related hospitalization.

Association of Supine Hypertension Versus Standing Hypotension With Adverse Events Among Middle-Aged Adults.

Background: Management of orthostatic hypotension (OH) prioritizes prevention of standing hypotension, sometimes at the expense of supine hypertension. It is unclear whether supine hypertension is associated with adverse outcomes relative to standing hypotension.

Objectives: To compare the long-term clinical consequences of supine hypertension and standing hypotension among middle-aged adults with and without OH.

Standing Blood Pressure and Risk of Falls, Syncope, Coronary Heart Disease, and Mortality.

Background: ACC/AHA guidelines caution against the use of antihypertensive therapy in the setting of low standing systolic BP (SBP) < 110 mm Hg due to unclear benefits.

Methods: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study measured supine and standing SBP in adults aged 45-64 years between 1987 and 1989. We used Cox regression to evaluate the associations of low standing SBP (<110 mm Hg) with risk of falls, syncope, coronary heart disease (CHD), and mortality through December 31, 2019.

Medicaid expansion and health care access for individuals with obesity in the United States.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate associations of Medicaid expansion with health care access for adults with obesity and to explore racial/ethnic differences in these changes in health care access.

Methods: Using 2011 to 2017 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data, the study compared health care access measures among adults who were aged ≥18 years and who had BMI ≥ 30 kg/m and household income ≤ 138% of the federal poverty line by state Medicaid expansion status using a difference-in-differences approach with logistic regression. The authors further stratified the main analysis by race/ethnicity.