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This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Data Supplement All Versions of this Article: AJPH.2007.123885v1 98/8/1495    most recent Submit a response View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Web of Science (2) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Miller, D. P. Articles by Han, W.-J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Miller, D. P. Articles by Han, W.-J. Related Collections Obesity, Overweight, Underweight Adolescent Health Other Child and Adolescent Health Socioeconomic Factors

Daniel P. Miller, MA and Wen-Jui Han, PhD

Daniel P. Miller is a doctoral student at the Columbia University School of Social Work, New York, NY. Wen-Jui Han is and Associate Professor at the Columbia University School of Social Work, New York, and a Research Associate at the Social Policy Research Center, National Taiwan University, Taipei City, Taiwan.

Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Daniel P. Miller, c/o Doctoral Program, 9th Floor, Columbia University School of Social Work, 1255 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY 10027, (e-mail: dpm2116{at}columbia.edu).

Objectives. We investigated whether nonstandard work schedules by mothers were associated with adolescent overweight.

Methods. We conducted multiple regression analyses using a sample of mother–child pairs (n=2353) from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth to examine the association between the number of years mothers worked at nonstandard schedules and adolescent overweight at age 13 or 14 years. Separate analyses were also conducted by family income and family type.

Results. Child’s body mass index increased significantly if mothers worked either a few years or many years at nonstandard schedules. Risk of overweight was also significantly associated with 1 to 4 and 10 or more years of maternal nonstandard work schedules. In both cases, results were driven by those families with predicted incomes in the 2nd quartile ("near-poor"), with a few or many years of nonstandard work schedules also associated with increased risk of adolescent overweight in 2-parent families.

Conclusions. Results indicate the importance of the overlooked association between maternal nonstandard work schedules and adolescent overweight at age 13 or 14 years. Nonstandard work schedules among near-poor families and in 2-parent families may disrupt the work–family balance, affecting adolescent overweight.