Social class differences in BMI among Danish women: Applying Cockerham's health lifestyles approach and Bourdieu's theory of lifestyle

Abstract

Research on social class differences in obesity and weight-related outcomes has highlighted the need to consider how such class differences reflect the unequally distributed constellations of economic, cultural, and social resources that enable and constrain health-related habits and practices or health lifestyles. Motivated by this need, the present study applies a theoretical perspective that integrates Cockerham's (2005) health lifestyles theory with Bourdieu's (1984) theoretical scholarship on social class, lifestyles, and the body to analyzing class-based differences in body mass index (BMI) among adult female respondents of a 2007 Danish national survey (n = 1376). We test hypotheses concerning how respective levels of economic, cultural, and social capital that constitute women's social class membership are associated with BMI directly and via their influence on respondent's dietary-related values, preferences, behaviors, and exercise activities. Our analyses indicate that cultural and economic capital were both directly associated with BMI. Mediation analyses revealed that greater cultural and social capital were linked to higher BMI via interest in cooking; while all three forms of capital were associated with lower BMI via greater frequency of exercise. These findings provide evidence for the many—and sometimes contradictory—ways that social class can influence body weight. Identifying such patterns can inform the design of more effective population health interventions.