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Socioeconomic position tied to BMI in adulthood
A low socioeconomic position, whether in childhood or adulthood, is associated with an increased BMI in adulthood, and the association is stronger among women compared with men, according to findings from a longitudinal study of U.K. residents.
David Bann, PhD, of the Centre for Longitudinal Studies, University College London Institute of Education, and colleagues evaluated data on 22,810 participants with 77,115 BMI observations from the 1946 Medical Research Council National Survey of Health and Development (aged 20-64 years), the 1958 National Child Development Study (aged 23-50 years) and the 1970 British Cohort Study (aged 26-42 years) to determine how childhood and adult socioeconomic positions are related to BMI in adulthood. Information on socioeconomic position was gathered from the father’s occupation for childhood status and the participants’ own occupation for adult status. BMI data were collected throughout adulthood.
Among all cohorts, lower childhood and adult socioeconomic positions were associated with higher mean BMI at all ages, and the associations tended to be stronger among women compared with men.
When comparing the lowest and highest childhood socioeconomic positions, researchers observed differences for women aged 42 to 43 years in mean BMI of 1.7 kg/m2 in the 1946 cohort, 1.5 kg/m2 in the 1958 cohort and 2.7 kg/m2 in the 1970 cohort.
When comparing the lowest and highest adult socioeconomic positions, there were differences for women aged 42 to 43 years in mean BMI of 2 kg/m2 in the 1946 cohort, 2.3 kg/m2 in the 1958 cohort and 3.9 kg/m2 in the 1970 cohort. Among women, mean standard deviation BMI in the highest compared with the lowest socioeconomic positions were 24.9 kg/m2 vs. 26.8 kg/m2 in the 1946 cohort, 24.2 kg/m2 vs. 26.5 kg/m2 in the 1958 cohort and 24.2 kg/m2 vs. 28.1 kg/m2 in the 1970 cohort.
“Our findings, based on historic longitudinal data, demonstrate that the overweight and obesity epidemic has disproportionately impacted adults in Britain born in 1946, 1958 and 1970 who were more socioeconomically disadvantaged in childhood or adulthood,” the researchers wrote. “They prompt consideration of how inequalities can be reduced amongst these and future cohorts, given the considerable expected adverse health impacts.” – by Amber Cox
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.