Neighborhood Opportunity and Biological Aging: Results From the Midlife in the United States

To quantify the association between neighborhood opportunity and biological aging as measured by epigenetic clocks.

This cross-sectional study pooled data from 1205 participants in the Midlife in the United States Biomarker Projects (2004-2016). Neighborhood opportunity was measured continuously based on the Childhood Opportunity Index 3.0, which evaluates census tract conditions across educational, health and environment, and social and economic domains. Biological aging was measured using 3 validated DNA methylation-based indicators: the DunedinPACE, GrimAge2, and PhenoAge. Analyses controlled for the confounding effects of age, sex, race, educational attainment, household income, marital status, perceived neighborhood quality, smoking status, past month alcohol consumption, and body mass index (BMI).

Participants living in neighborhoods with low overall opportunity showed a faster pace of aging with DunedinPACE (0.06 SD increase, 95% CI = 0.01, 0.12; p = .029). Similar effects occurred for the health and environment (0.05 SD increase, 95% CI = 0.01, 0.10; p = .023) and social and economic (0.07 SD increase, 95% CI = 0.01, 0.12; p = .026) domains of the overall opportunity score. GrimAge2 and PhenoAge showed similar associations, but those were attenuated after adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics and health behaviors.

Low neighborhood opportunity, particularly in health and environment and social and economic domains, is associated with accelerated biological aging. Health behaviors may contribute to these effects, and additional mechanisms need to be examined in future research.