Obesity – Social determinants

ppuser4 August 31, 2009December 20, 2013 Conditions and Diseases

Obesity is one of the major problems our society is facing these days. Many and many people are becoming obese with out any discrimination in ages, gender, section and statues. I searched Internet on this topic and found that there are some social factors, which could cause obesity that are very surprising. The findings are given below, check them out.

Some obesity co-factors are resistant to the theory that the “epidemic” is a new phenomenon. In particular, a class co-factor consistently appears across many studies. Comparing net worth with BMI scores, a 2004 study found obese American subjects approximately half as wealthy as thin ones. When income differentials were factored out, the inequity persisted—thin subjects were inheriting more wealth than fat ones. A higher rate of a lower level of education and tendencies to rely on cheaper fast foods is seen as a reason why these results are so dissimilar. Another study finds women who married into higher status are predictably thinner than women who married into lower status.

A 2007 study of more than 32,500 children of the original Framingham Heart Study cohort followed for 32 years indicated that BMI change in friends, siblings or spouse predicted BMI change in subjects irrespective of geographical distance. The association was strongest among mutual friends and lower among siblings and spouses (although these differences were not statistically significant). The authors concluded from the results that acceptance of body mass plays an important role in changes in body size.