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BMC Public Health
Published in: BMC Public Health 1/2012

Open Access 01-12-2012 | Research article

Unevenly distributed: a systematic review of the health literature about socioeconomic inequalities in adult obesity in the United Kingdom

Authors: Abdulrahman M El-Sayed, Peter Scarborough, Sandro Galea

Published in: BMC Public Health | Issue 1/2012

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Abstract

Background

There is a growing literature documenting socioeconomic inequalities in obesity risk among adults in the UK, with poorer groups suffering higher risk.

Methods

In this systematic review, we summarize and appraise the extant peer-reviewed literature about socioeconomic inequalities in adult obesity risk in the UK published between 1980 and 2010. Only studies featuring empirical assessments of relations between socioeconomic indicators and measures of obesity among adults in the UK were included.

Results

A total of 35 articles met inclusion criteria, and were reviewed here.

Conclusion

Socioeconomic indicators of low socioeconomic position (SEP), including occupational social class of the head-of-household at birth and during childhood, earlier adulthood occupational social class, contemporaneous occupational social class, educational attainment, and area-level deprivation were generally inversely associated with adult obesity risk in the UK. Measures of SEP were more predictive of obesity among women than among men. We outline important methodological limitations to the literature and recommend avenues for future research.
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Metadata
Title
Unevenly distributed: a systematic review of the health literature about socioeconomic inequalities in adult obesity in the United Kingdom
Authors
Abdulrahman M El-Sayed
Peter Scarborough
Sandro Galea
Publication date
01-12-2012
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Public Health / Issue 1/2012
Electronic ISSN: 1471-2458
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-12-18

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