Social inequalities in health: the case of childhood obesity

Abstract

The increasing prevalence of obesity has been explained by environmental obesogenic processes, possibly associated with socioeconomic status: individuals of low socioeconomic status are more likely to live in disadvantaged areas, where resources and opportunities that might support a healthy living are scarce. This association is the core idea of the “deprivation amplification” model, a particular case of the “environmental injustice” theory. In this study we observed 1885 schoolchildren living in Coimbra district. Using ordered logistic models, we analyze the associations between children’s body mass index, children’s sport activity and parental neighborhood perceptions with the children’s socioeconomic status. The results show that children of lower socioeconomic status are more likely to be obese and less likely to participate in extracurricular sport activities than their high socioeconomic peers. Our findings also show that these children are less likely to live in neighborhoods perceived as adequate by their parents. These findings show that the socioeconomic differential access to local resources and facilities overlaps with the individual socioeconomic status, thereby creating clusters of factors harmful to health, suggesting the existence (and relevance) of a model of deprivation amplification that penalizes the most vulnerable children.