Socioeconomic Status, Institutional Power, and Body Mass Index among Chinese Adults.

Weidong Li,Shuzhuo Li,Marcus W Feldman

doi:10.3390/ijerph182010620

Abstract

Despite the vast literature on the socioeconomic status (SES) gradient of obesity among adult people, no study has investigated the relationship between institutional power and body mass index. Using national survey data from the “China Labor-force Dynamics Survey 2016” (CLDS 2016), multistage cluster-stratified probability proportional to size (PPS) sampling was employed to select cases from 29 provinces, cities, and autonomous regions in China. This study adopts an institutional approach to explore the influences of SES and institutional power on the state of being overweight or severely overweight (obese) among Chinese adults. It is shown that SES has a non-linear influence on being overweight or obese, higher education has a negative effect on being overweight or obese, income has an inverted U-shaped effect on being overweight or obese, and having a managerial or administrative job has a positive effect on being overweight but less so on obesity. These findings reveal that disparities in health outcome and risks are due to inequality in SES. The work unit is a stronger predictor of adults being overweight or obese than occupation. Working in the public sector has a positive effect on being overweight relative to working in the private sector, and only state institutions and government departments have a positive association with obesity. Our results indicate that institutional structure still has effects on individuals’ life chances in the era of China’s market transition.

Highlights

The increasing prevalence of being overweight or obese has become a major global public health problem [1,2], due to health consequences, such as hypertension and type 2 diabetes [3,4], and has attracted the attention of many scholars [5,6,7,8]
There is a significant difference in body mass index (BMI) according to occupation, education, and work unit (p < 0.001)
We have demonstrated that socioeconomic status is related to health outcomes in the present era of market transition

Summary

Introduction

The increasing prevalence of being overweight or obese has become a major global public health problem [1,2], due to health consequences, such as hypertension and type 2 diabetes [3,4], and has attracted the attention of many scholars [5,6,7,8]. Research in developing countries has produced inconsistent findings on the relationship between SES and being overweight or obese. Data from poorer countries show a positive relationship between obesity and SES [8,12,13,14,15,16,17]. In some middle-income countries, there is a negative association between obesity and SES [5,6]. These findings from developing countries reveal that the relationship between SES and obesity is moderated by the level of gross domestic product [15], and this pattern may exists even inside one country [16,17]

Objectives

Results

Discussion

Conclusion