Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39441522›Full record

ArticleJournal of racial and ethnic health disparities2025

Exploring the Association Between Minimum Wage Policy, Income Inequality, and Obesity Rates in US Counties.

Hossein Zare, Khushbu Balsara, Nicholas S Meyerson, Paul Delgado, Benjo Delarmente, Rachael McCleary, Roland J Thorpe, Darrell J Gaskin

Abstract read
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In one paragraph

Article in Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Hossein ZareDepartment of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public and Health, 750 E. Pratt Street, Floor 15, Baltimore, MD, USA. hzare1@jhu.edu.ORCID 0000-0002-5832-0854
Khushbu BalsaraJohns Hopkins International Injury Research Unit, Health Systems, Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Nicholas S MeyersonDepartment of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public and Health, 750 E. Pratt Street, Floor 15, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Paul DelgadoOklahoma State University-Center for Health Sciences, Office of Medical Student Research, Tulsa, OK, 74107, USA.
Benjo DelarmenteUCLA Value-Based Care Research Consortium, Division of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Rachael McClearyDepartment of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public and Health, 750 E. Pratt Street, Floor 15, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Roland J ThorpeDepartment of Health, Behavior, and Society, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.
Darrell J GaskinDepartment of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public and Health, 750 E. Pratt Street, Floor 15, Baltimore, MD, USA.

Funding

Why Place MattersU54MD000214 · NIMHD · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · PI GASKIN, DARRELL J. · 2017 to 2022
$8.8M
NIH HHS U54MD000214
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo examine the interaction between minimum wage policy, income inequality, and obesity rates among U.S. counties, and how this relationship is shaped by policy, place, and racial/ethnic composition in a county.

methodsWe used the County Health Rankings Data for obesity ratio (measured by Body Mass Index ≥ 30 kg/m

resultsIn total, 31.7% of the population were obese, with wide variations across counties; during this time, counties' average GC was 0.442. Our findings showed that in the lack of any other predictors, GC has a positive association with the county obesity ratio (OLS 0.147, CI 0.122-0.173). Counties with minimum wage between $7.26-$9.0 and $9 + had lower obesity ratios by - 0.6 and - 2.8 percentage points, respectively, and counties with lower access to healthy foods had higher obesity ratio (Coeff = 0.022, CI 0.019-0.025).

conclusionsIncome inequality is positively associated with the obesity ratio in counties. Access to healthy foods and state minimum wage policy predict obesity rates, with a lack of healthy foods increasing the ratio, while a higher minimum wage reduces it.

Indexed as

Health Status DisparitiesIncomeObesitySalaries and Fringe BenefitsAdultFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedSocioeconomic FactorsUnited StatesFood accessGini coefficientIncome inequalityMinimum wageObesity

Identifiers

PMID39441522

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.