Do Socioeconomic Gradients in Body Mass Index Vary by Race/Ethnicity, Gender,
and Birthplace?
Emma V. Sannchez-Vaznaugh, Ichiro Kawachi, S. V. Subramanian, Brisa N. Sanchez, and Dolores Acevedo-Garcia
Department of Health Education, College of Health and Human Services, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, California (Emma V. Sa´nchez-Vaznaugh);
Center on Social Disparities in Health, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California (Emma V. Sa´nchez-Vaznaugh);
Department of Society, Human Development and Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts (Ichiro Kawachi, Subu Subramanian, Dolores Acevedo-Garcia);
and Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan (Brisa N. Sanchez).
This research was supported by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation Fellowship Program in Health Policy Research and the Center for the Advancement of Health (
American Journal of Epidemiology Advance Access published March 18, 2009
Available online at: http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/kwp027?ijkey=Kpp9AW3NaS6nzc3&keytype=ref
PDF [11p.] at: http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/kwp027?ijkey=Kpp9AW3NaS6nzc3&keytype=ref
“……..Despite the well-documented negative socioeconomic status (SES) gradient in body mass index (BMI; weight (kg)/height (m)2) among women in developed societies, the presence and strength of the gradient is less consistent among men.
Far less clear is the SES patterning of BMI among racial/ethnic minorities and immigrants. Using data from the 2001 California Health Interview Survey, a cross-sectional representative sample of California adults, the authors examined whether the SES patterning of BMI varied across 4 major US racial/ethnic groups (n = 37,150) by gender and birthplace.
The shape and strength of the relation between SES and BMI differed markedly by race/ethnicity; and within racial/ethnic groups, it varied by gender. Irrespective of race/ethnicity, there were negative income and education gradients in BMI among women; however, there was considerable variation among men. The effect of education on BMI differed by birthplace in some groups.
A clear education gradient in BMI was found among all US-born participants, a quadratic education pattern in BMI was found among foreign-born Asian men, a flat pattern was found among foreign-born Asian women, and no clear pattern was found in the remaining foreign-born groups.
There is substantial heterogeneity in the contemporaneous SES gradient in BMI. US social disparities in BMI require simultaneous consideration of race/ethnicity and SES, but also birthplace.. ….”
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