Socioeconomic position and risk of short-term weight gain: prospective study of 14,619 middle-aged men and women.
BMC Public Health 2007 ; 8: 112.
Purslow LR, Young EH, Wareham NJ, Forouhi N, Brunner EJ, Luben RN, Welch AA, Khaw KT, Bingham SA, Sandhu MS
DOI : 10.1186/1471-2458-8-112
PubMed ID : 18400100
PMCID : PMC2323377
URL : https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18400100/
Abstract
The association between socioeconomic position in middle age and risk of subsequent, short-term weight gain is unknown. We therefore assessed this association in a prospective population based cohort study in Norfolk, UK.
We analysed data on 14,619 middle-aged men and women (aged between 40-75 at baseline) with repeated objective measures of weight and height at baseline (1993-1997) and follow up (1998-2000).
During follow up 5,064 people gained more than 2.5 kg. Compared with the highest social class, individuals in the lowest social class had around a 30% greater risk of gaining more than 2.5 kg (OR 1.29; 95% CI 1.11-1.51; p for trend = 0.002). This association remained statistically significant following adjustment for sex, age, baseline BMI, smoking, and follow up time (OR 1.25; CI 1.07-1.46; p for trend <0.001). We also found no material difference between unadjusted models and those including all confounders and potential mediators.
Individuals of low socioeconomic position are at greatest risk of gaining weight during middle age, which is not explained by classical correlates of socioeconomic position and risk factors for obesity.