Psychosocial and socio-economic factors in women and their relationship to obesity and regional body fat distribution

Rosmond, Roland; Björntorp, Per

doi:10.1038/sj.ijo.0800782

Cited by 131 publications

(84 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…It has been seen that women who are obese in adolescence are less likely to marry, have lower incomes and complete fewer years of education than their non-obese counterparts; 46 they are more stigmatised by obesity than obese men and exposed to more difficulties in their place of work. 47 Obesity is currently considered a major risk factor by itself for cardiovascular disease, 45 although it is often accompanied by complications. A problem of the magnitude that this implies requires mass solutions, among which the most effective may be reduction of the mean population BMI.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Extremely high prevalence of overweight and obesity in Murcia, a Mediterranean region in south-east Spain

Martínez-Ros¹,

Tormo

Navarro

et al. 2001

Int J Obes

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OBJECTIVE:To estimate the prevalence of obesity in the Murcia Region according to age and sex, and to analyse how obesity is related to demographic and socio-economic determinants and to other cardiovascular risk factors of interest to the community. DESIGN: Survey on a representative population sample using multi-stage random sampling with definition of the sample quotas. SUBJECTS: A total of 3091 persons aged 18 -65 y residing in the Murcia Region. MEASURMENTS:The following data were collected: socio-economic data; tobacco smoking; recent physical activity; blood pressure; weight; height; and blood analysis to determine plasma lipids. Obesity was defined by body mass index (BMI) ! 30. Intense or vigorous physical activity (VPA ! 6 equivalents to baseline metabolic rate or METs) was measured in kilocalories per day and reduced to hours per week. RESULTS: In all, 20.5% of the adult population of the Murcia Region is obese, and 40.9% is overweight. In the logistic regression analysis, obesity in men is associated with age and level of education. In women it is associated with age, level of education, living in a non-urban area and being a housewife. When adjusted for socio-economic variables and for other cardiovascular risk factors the effect of age and level of education disappears in men and it is directly associated with hypertension and hypertriglyceridaemia and inversely related to more than 2 h VPA per week. Obesity in women is associated positively with age, hypertension, hypertriglyceridaemia and little VPA, and inversely with level of education. CONCLUSIONS: In the Murcia Region 61.4% of the adult population presents with some form of excess weight. The prevalence of obesity (BMI ! 30) is greater in women (23.7%; CI 95% 19.7 -27.7) than in men (17.3%; CI 95% 15.3 -19.3). The widespread nature of this factor makes it a mass problem that requires generalised interventions to prevent it.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Extremely high prevalence of overweight and obesity in Murcia, a Mediterranean region in south-east Spain

Martínez-Ros¹,

Tormo

Navarro

et al. 2001

Int J Obes

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“…6 To our knowledge, women have not been included in longitudinal studies, but cross-sectional studies show that unemployed women have higher BMIs than employed women. 12,13 In Finland in the middle of 1990s the unemployment rate was unusually high: the mean rate was around 17% in 1994 and continued to be high (around 13%) until 1997 -1998, when data were collected for this study. 14 There were certain areas and age groups, in particular northern Finland and young adults, for whom unemployment rates were even higher.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unemployment and obesity among young adults in a northern Finland 1966 birth cohort

Laitinen¹,

Power

Ek³

et al. 2002

Int J Obes

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OBJECTIVE: To establish (1) if obesity in adolescence predicts a long history of unemployment and other adverse social outcomes at age 31 y and, conversely, (2) the effect of a long history of unemployment on the risk of obesity at 31 y. DESIGN AND SUBJECTS: A longitudinal, population-based study of 9754 subjects born in 1966 in Northern Finland was conducted. The cohort members were studied at birth, 1, 14 and 31 y. MEASUREMENTS: Body mass index (BMI) at 14 and 31 y; work history, as self-reported at 31 y and as recorded in national registers of the total number of days each subject had received unemployment allowance between 1985 and 1997; place of residence at 14 and 31 y; family social class at 14 y; subject's school performance at 16 y; marital status and number of children at 31 y. RESULTS: Overweight and obesity at 14 y did not predict a long history of unemployment at 31 y, but were associated with a low level of education, and being single or divorced at 31 y among females. A long history of unemployment (register data) was associated with an increased risk of obesity among women, but not men, after controlling for potential confounding factors (social class at 14 y, BMI at 14 y, school performance at 16 y, place of residence, and number of children). The adjusted OR (95% CI) was 1.09 (0.72 -1.63) for men, and 1.64 (1.07 -2.50) for women. CONCLUSION: Adverse social outcomes of adolescent obesity seemed to emerge more for women. Subjects with low school performance and women with a long unemployment history are at increased risk of obesity.

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“…17,18 Findings of several recent studies suggest that waist-to-hip ratio may also be related to socioeconomic factors including employment status, education, marital status and housing conditions. 5,19 The associations between socioeconomic status factors and body weight may differ depending on whether body mass index or waist-tohip ratio is used as the index. 5 However, evidence linking waist-to-hip ratio and socioeconomic status is limited.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…5,19 The associations between socioeconomic status factors and body weight may differ depending on whether body mass index or waist-tohip ratio is used as the index. 5 However, evidence linking waist-to-hip ratio and socioeconomic status is limited. Moreover, despite a wealth of studies describing the links between socioeconomic status, and body weight and obesity, very little is known about the nature of this relationship, or how socioeconomic status, and body weight and body fat distribution are linked.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Which aspects of socioeconomic status are related to obesity among men and women?

2002

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OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the relationships between body weight and fat distribution, and four empirically derived domains of socioeconomic status: employment, housing, migration status and family unit. DESIGN: A population-based study was used. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 8667 randomly-selected adults (4167 men; 4500 women) who participated in the 1995 Australian National Health and Nutrition Surveys provided data on a range of health factors including objective height, weight and body fat distribution, and a range of sociodemographic indicators. RESULTS: Results demonstrated associations for women, after controlling for age, between the employment domain, and body mass index and waist-to-hip ratio. Low status employed women were 1.4 times as likely to be overweight as high status employed women. There were less consistent relationships observed among these factors for men. Relationships between family unit and indicators of body weight and body fat distribution were observed for both men and women, with those who were married, particularly men (OR ¼ 1.6, 95% CI 1.4 -2.0), at higher risk of overweight. The migration and housing socioeconomic status domains were not consistently associated with body mass index or waist-to-hip ratio. CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate that different components of socioeconomic status may be important in predicting obesity, and thus should be examined separately. Future research would benefit from investigating the underlying mechanisms governing the relationships between socioeconomic status domains further, particularly those related to employment and family unit and obesity.

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Psychosocial and socio-economic factors in women and their relationship to obesity and regional body fat distribution

Cited by 131 publications

References 19 publications

Extremely high prevalence of overweight and obesity in Murcia, a Mediterranean region in south-east Spain

Extremely high prevalence of overweight and obesity in Murcia, a Mediterranean region in south-east Spain

Unemployment and obesity among young adults in a northern Finland 1966 birth cohort

Which aspects of socioeconomic status are related to obesity among men and women?

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