Poverty and obesity links

By Dr. Ananya Mandal, MDDec 14 2010

According to U.S. government researchers in a new report, women who are poor are much more likely to be obese but men are not. They revealed this Tuesday that where income does not greatly affect whether a man is obese, education affects both sexes. The team at the National Center for Health Statistics writes, “Among men, obesity prevalence is generally similar at all income levels, with a tendency to be slightly higher at higher income levels.”

With the growing epidemic of obesity with two thirds of Americans either overweight or obese, policy makers are pondering over causes and remedial measures. Earlier studies have shown obesity to be linked with both income and education. Now the NCHS researchers used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey a national study of 5,000 people that is done every year.

They note;

• 41% of obese adults live in prosperous homes, bringing in at least $77,000 a year for a family of four, or 350 percent of poverty-level income.
• 39% of obese adults live in homes making between 130 percent and 350 percent of the poverty level
• 20% lived in poorer homes with incomes below 130 percent of the poverty level or $29,000 for a family of four.
• Of all men living in well-to-do households with income at 350 percent of the poverty level, 33% were obese
• 29 percent of men who lived below 130 percent of the poverty level were obese
• Of all women who lived in well-to-do homes 29% were obese.
• 42 percent of women living below poverty level were obese.
• 27 percent of men with a college degree were obese compared with 32 percent of those with less than a high school education
• 23 percent of women with a college degree were obese, compared to 42 percent of women with less than a high school education.

In a second study the researchers looked at children and teens and found that those living in homes with college-educated adults were less likely to be obese, and found stronger associations between obesity and income. Results here showed that less than 12% kids living in prosperous homes were obese, compared to 21 percent of boys and 19 percent of girls in the poorest homes.

Cynthia Ogden, an epidemiologist with the National Center for Health Statistics, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said, “There is a relationship between obesity and income, but it’s not a simple story… When looking at these two measures of socioeconomic status - income and education - their impact is greater on women than men.” Jennifer Lovejoy, president of the Obesity Society added that lower-income women may be more likely to become obese because of environmental factors such as lack of access to safe places to do physical activity and easy access to fast food.