The Weight of Care: Examining the Relationship Between Grandchild Caregiving and Adiposity in Later Life

Vollständiger Abstract

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Grandchild caregiving is an increasingly common later-life family role, yet its association with older adults’ adiposity remains unclear. Using five waves of the Health and Retirement Study (2010–2018), this study examines associations between grandchild caregiving arrangements and four adiposity indicators: BMI based on self-reported height and weight, physically measured BMI, waist circumference, and relative fat mass. Linear panel models, including random-effects and fixed-effects models, assess whether adiposity patterns are linked to caregiving transitions or to broader differences across caregiving arrangements. Fixed-effects results showed little evidence linking caregiving transitions to adiposity changes over time. Random-effects models indicated higher adiposity among grandparents in household caregiving arrangements, especially multigenerational households, across multiple outcomes. Findings suggest that later-life adiposity differences among caregiving grandparents are linked less to caregiving transitions per se than to the household, socioeconomic, and family-role contexts in which grandchild care occurs.