Family Income Gradients in Adolescent Obesity, Overweight and Adiposity Persist in Extremely Deprived and Extremely Affluent Neighbourhoods but Not in Middle-Class Neighbourhoods: Evidence from the UK Millennium Cohort Study

Abstract

We investigated whether family income gradients in obesity, overweight, and adiposity persist at geographic-level deprivation quintiles using a nationally representative cohort of UK adolescents. Data from 11,714 eligible adolescents from the sixth sweep of the Millennium Cohort Study (14 years old) were analysed in this study. The International Obesity Task Force age- and sex-specific thresholds were used to define obesity and overweight. Self-reported family income was standardized using the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)’s equivalised income scale. Geographic-level deprivation was defined by the index of multiple deprivation 2004. Results showed that the prevalence of obesity and overweight was 8.0% and 27.2%, respectively. Mean percentage body fat was 16.9% (standard error, SE = 0.2%) in male and 27.3% (SE = 0.1%) in female adolescents. Risk of obesity, overweight, and adiposity increased with decreasing family income quintiles (p for trend <0.001). After stratifying by geographic-level deprivation quintiles, a U-shaped association emerged, whereby family income gradients in the risk of adolescent obesity and adiposity persisted in extremely affluent and extremely deprived neighbourhoods but attenuated to non-significance in middle-class neighbourhoods. These results focus on the findings from England. Recognition of the persistence of inequalities in the risk of obesity in the most deprived and affluent neighbourhoods may be necessary in planning public health resources and interventions.

Waking Activities and Sleep: Analysis of United Kingdom Adolescents' Daily Time-Use Diaries

“…This may explain the rather small additional relative risk (2%) of being a short sleeper for a 10-minute increase in digital media time; this is consistent with a recent findings using the same data that reported very small inverse association between bedtime use of digital media and sleep duration [30]. Several studies have investigated emerging hypothesis that short sleep duration in adolescence is associated with the higher risks of obesity and overweight [31][32][33][34][35]. Although these studies account for physical activity, none has investigated an interaction between physical activity and short sleep on the risk of obesity.…”

Area-level and family-level socioeconomic position and body composition trajectories: longitudinal analysis of the UK Millennium Cohort Study

“…1,2 Studies in the UK using area-level SEP in relation to body composition have reported mixed results. [12][13][14] Although area-level SEP has often been used as a proxy for individual circumstances, it is likely to also capture broader aspects, specifically social and economic aspects, of the environment in which people live. Conceptual models have highlighted how neighbourhood deprivation relates to obesity through the built and social environment.…”

Independent associations of sleep timing, duration and quality with adiposity and weight status in a national sample of adolescents: the UK Millennium Cohort Study

“…Age was calculated as the elapsed time between the child’s date of birth and the date of the sixth sweep assessment; which was also used to infer season of measurement. Adolescents self-reported their ethnic group [24] and parents reported their incomes which were equivalised to indicate net disposable household income per week [25]. Birth weight and the child’s breast feeding history were also parent reported.…”