Social Support Networks and Foreign-Birth Status Associated With Obesity, Hypertension and Diabetes Prevalence Among 21-30 and 50-70 Year Old Adults Living in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Purpose: To examine whether social network characteristics of US-and foreign-born individuals are related to hypertension, diabetes and obesity prevalence.

Design: Cross-sectional.

Setting: Six San Francisco Bay Area counties.

Participants: N = 1153 cohorts of young and older adults (21-30 and 50-70 years).

Measures: Network structure and support measures were calculated using name elicitation and interpreter questions common in egocentric surveys. Hypertension and diabetes were self-reported, and overweight/obesity was determined using body mass index calculations. Foreign-birth status was based on country of birth.

Analysis: Adjusted and unadjusted logistic regression models were used to examine associations between network characteristics and hypertension, diabetes and overweight/obesity. These relationships were tested for moderation by foreign-birth status, age and gender.

Results: Higher percentages of family members (AOR = 4.16, CI: 1.61-10.76) and same-sex individuals (AOR = 3.41, CI: 1.25-9.35) in the composition of respondents' networks were associated with overweight/obesity. Higher composition of family members (AOR = 3.54, CI: 1.09-11.48) was associated with hypertension. Respondents whose networks composed of higher numbers of advice individuals (AOR = 0.88, CI: 0.77-0.99), female respondents (AOR = 0.52, CI: 0.35-0.77) and foreign-born respondents (AOR = 0.54, CI: 0.32-0.92) were less likely to report overweight/obesity. Diabetes was associated with higher composition of individuals living within 5-minutes to respondents (AOR = 5.13, CI: 1.04-25.21).

Conclusion: Family and network support members such as advice individuals could be potential targets for chronic disease prevention, particularly among older adults and immigrants.