Obesity and socioeconomic disadvantage in midlife female public sector employees: a cohort study

BMC Public Health

Research Article

Tea Lallukka¹  Minna Mänty²  Aapo Hiilamo³  Anne Kouvonen⁴ 

[1] Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland;Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Helsinki, Finland;Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland;Unit of Research, Development and Innovation, Laurea University of Applied Sciences, Vantaa, Finland;Department of Social Research, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland;Department of Social Research, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland;SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities in Wroclaw, Wroclaw, Poland;UKCRC Centre of Excellence for Public Health (Northern Ireland), Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, UK;Administrative Data Research Centre - Northern Ireland (ADRC-NI), Queen’s University Belfast, Centre for Public Health, Institute of Clinical Sciences, Grosvenor Road, BT12 6BJ, Belfast, UK;

关键词: Obesity;    Social inequalities;    Poverty;    Midlife;    Longitudinal studies;    Socioeconomic disadvantage;    Older workers;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12889-017-4865-8

 received in 2016-04-06, accepted in 2017-10-17,  发布年份 2017

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundThe two-way relationship between obesity and socioeconomic disadvantage is well established but previous studies on social and economic consequences of obesity have primarily focused on relatively young study populations. We examined whether obesity is associated with socioeconomic disadvantage through the 10–12-year follow-up, and how obesity-related socioeconomic inequalities develop during midlife among women.MethodsBaseline data were derived from the female population of the Helsinki Health Study cohort, comprising 40–60 –year-old employees of the City of Helsinki, Finland in 2000–2002 (n = 6913, response rate 69%). The follow-up surveys were carried out in 2007 (n = 5810) and 2012 (n = 5400). Socioeconomic disadvantage was measured by five dichotomous measures. Repeated logistic regression analyses utilising generalized estimating equations (GEE) were used to test the association between baseline self-reported obesity and the likelihood of socioeconomic disadvantage through all phases. The effect of time on the development of inequalities was examined by time interaction terms in random effect logistic regression models.ResultsAfter adjustment for educational level, baseline obesity was associated with repeated poverty (OR = 1.23; 95% CI; 1.05–1.44), frequent economic difficulties (OR = 1.74; 95% CI; 1.52–1.99), low household net income (OR = 1.23; 95% CI; 1.07–1.41), low household wealth (OR = 1.90; 95% CI; 1.59–2.26) and low personal income (OR = 1.22; 95% CI; 1.03–1.44). The differences in poverty rate and low personal income between the participants with obesity and participants with normal weight widened during the follow-up. Living without a partner and early exit from paid employment explained the widening of inequalities.ConclusionsWeight status inequalities in socioeconomic disadvantage persisted or widened during the late adulthood.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s). 2017