Obesity/diabetes correlates with inequality: wider income gaps, wider waistbands

[Hannah Bell]

http://jech.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/59/8/670

Wider income gaps, wider waistbands? An ecological study of obesity and income inequality
Kate E Pickett1, Shona Kelly2, Eric Brunner3, Tim Lobstein4, Richard G Wilkinson2

1 Department of Health Sciences, University of York, UK
2 Division of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Nottingham, UK
3 Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, UK
4 International Obesity TaskForce, UK


Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Dr K E Pickett
Department of Health Sciences, University of York, Seebohm Rowntree Building, Area 3, Heslington, York YO10 5DD, UK; kp6{at}york.ac.uk


Objectives: To see if obesity, deaths from diabetes, and daily calorie intake are associated with income inequality among developed countries.

Design: Ecological study of 21 developed countries.

Countries: Countries were eligible for inclusion if they were among the top 50 countries with the highest gross national income per capita by purchasing power parity in 2002, had a population over 3 million, and had available data on income inequality and outcome measures.

Main outcome measures: Percentage of obese (body mass index >30) adult men and women, diabetes mortality rates, and calorie consumption per capita per day.

Results: Adjusting for gross national per capita income, income inequality was positively correlated with the percentage of obese men (r = 0.48, p = 0.03), the percentage of obese women (r = 0.62, p = 0.003), diabetes mortality rates per 1 million people (r = 0.46, p = 0.04), and average calories per capita per day (r = 0.50, p = 0.02). Correlations were stronger if analyses were weighted for population size. The effect of income inequality on female obesity was independent of average calorie intake.

Conclusions: Obesity, diabetes mortality, and calorie consumption were associated with income inequality in developed countries. Increased nutritional problems may be a consequence of the psychosocial impact of living in a more hierarchical society.

[Warpy]

1. It's also because poor folks' food isn't very nutritious

and is composed mostly of fat and carbohydrates. Poor folks are actually starving for a lot of basic nutrients, causing their bodies to crave more and more food to try to get them.

That sets them up for obesity.

Now we have a couple of generations out there who don't have a clue what basic nutrition is and how to get it from their food. They're also the people who are overworked and overscheduled and proudly claim they never cook, so they're not likely to get it in the future.

[Hannah Bell]

2. It's a 21-country study. I wonder if you aren't over-generalizing

a bit.

[Warpy]

10. This study was of the first world, not the third

and I'm afraid fast food and overwork for the suffering masses are universals, especially in the places with the greatest wealth disparity.

[skooooo]

3. a bag of apples...

...is rich people food?

[Hannah Bell]

4. One more thing: The result is that the greater the degree of inequality

(not poverty per se, i.e not just low incomes), the greater the obesity rate.

It's not just about poor people. Or uneducated people. Or folks who are proud they don't cook.

[Warpy]

6. No, it's about no hope for anything better

so we might as well throw a party in our mouths while we can.

[Carnea]

5. It's education and Culture.

If you fry everything including the pickles your gonna be fatter.

If you eat fast food more than once a week your gonna be fatter.

If you buy groceries based on price your gonna be fatter.

If you don't swim in your pool or play tennis at the club your gonna be fatter.

If your culture embraces larger woman as okay your gonna be fatter.

If you're fruit comes in a roll-up and your vegetables in a ketchup package your gonna be fatter.

If you drink soda every day your gonna be fatter.

If your work doesn't require you to look professional your gonna be fatter.

If your parents are fat your gonna be fatter

If your genes are fat your gonna be fatter

If your poor and black your gonna be fatter

If your poor and white your gonna be fatter

If your poor and Hispanic your gonna be fatter

If you had a kid as a teen your gonna be fatter

If your rich and live in San Francisco , San Diego, or Fairfield County Ct Your gonna to keep yourself thin. and shake your head at the fat poor people you see on TV.

[Hannah Bell]

8. No, it's not any of that. Those are YOUR ideas. The study says one thing:

in developed countries, the greater the degree of income inequality, the greater the incidence of obesity.

All developed countries have junk food, a similar gene pool (except Japan), fried food, fast food, etc.

But they have dissimilar obesity & diabetes rates.

[Carnea]

9. Um we agree Education and culture cause low income nt

[Hannah Bell]

11. Politely, I disagree. Education & culture don't cause low income.

[bobbolink]

7. Great info! I also think it has to do with stress!

Thanks for the great thought-provoking posts you bring to us.

:toast:

:bounce:

[MiniMe]

12. Not surprising. It is more expensive to eat properly in general

Spaghetti goes a long way and fills tummies. Terrible for the waist however.

[Hannah Bell]

13. How many ways can people miss the point?

It's not about "poverty" & eating too many carbs!!!!!!!

It's about total social inequality, & it goes all the way up the ladder.

Middle-class people in countries where there's a greater degree of inequality are heavier than their peers in less stratified countries, OK?

Americans are so brainwashed with individualistic explanations for everything they literally can't process different perspectives.

Society precedes the individual, & shapes the individual materially & psychologically.