The Roots of the Obesity Boom. The Relationship Between Overweight and Educational Level Among Dutch Men, 1950–1979
While in modern, high-income populations, obesity is associated with being from a low socio-economic background, this may not have always been the case. We test the relationship between obesity and educational level (as a proxy for socio-economic status) in a historical cohort of Dutch military cons...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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International Institute of Social History
2021-03-01
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| Series: | Historical Life Course Studies |
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| Online Access: | https://openjournals.nl/index.php/hlcs/article/view/9580 |
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| author | Björn Quanjer Kristina Thompson |
| author_facet | Björn Quanjer Kristina Thompson |
| author_sort | Björn Quanjer |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | While in modern, high-income populations, obesity is associated with being from a low socio-economic background, this may not have always been the case. We test the relationship between obesity and educational level (as a proxy for socio-economic status) in a historical cohort of Dutch military conscripts, from the conscription years 1950–1979. We find that in the 1950s cohort, being in tertiary education was significantly associated with an increased likelihood of being overweight. In contrast, in the 1970s cohort, being in tertiary education was significantly associated with a decreased likelihood of being overweight. We find evidence that the prevalence of obesity remained broadly similar among more highly educated men, while it increased among men of a lower educational level. This likely contributed to the overall rise in the obesity rate. Our findings echo other studies that find a crossover in education’s relationship to BMI as populations become wealthier and obesity rates rise. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-526ea4fed7f94a72a9fedad57a2a2247 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2352-6343 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2021-03-01 |
| publisher | International Institute of Social History |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Historical Life Course Studies |
| spelling | doaj-art-526ea4fed7f94a72a9fedad57a2a22472025-02-02T07:57:42ZengInternational Institute of Social HistoryHistorical Life Course Studies2352-63432021-03-011010.51964/hlcs9580The Roots of the Obesity Boom. The Relationship Between Overweight and Educational Level Among Dutch Men, 1950–1979Björn QuanjerKristina ThompsonWhile in modern, high-income populations, obesity is associated with being from a low socio-economic background, this may not have always been the case. We test the relationship between obesity and educational level (as a proxy for socio-economic status) in a historical cohort of Dutch military conscripts, from the conscription years 1950–1979. We find that in the 1950s cohort, being in tertiary education was significantly associated with an increased likelihood of being overweight. In contrast, in the 1970s cohort, being in tertiary education was significantly associated with a decreased likelihood of being overweight. We find evidence that the prevalence of obesity remained broadly similar among more highly educated men, while it increased among men of a lower educational level. This likely contributed to the overall rise in the obesity rate. Our findings echo other studies that find a crossover in education’s relationship to BMI as populations become wealthier and obesity rates rise.https://openjournals.nl/index.php/hlcs/article/view/9580ObesityHeightBMIWeightThe NetherlandsAnthropometric history |
| spellingShingle | Björn Quanjer Kristina Thompson The Roots of the Obesity Boom. The Relationship Between Overweight and Educational Level Among Dutch Men, 1950–1979 Historical Life Course Studies Obesity Height BMI Weight The Netherlands Anthropometric history |
| title | The Roots of the Obesity Boom. The Relationship Between Overweight and Educational Level Among Dutch Men, 1950–1979 |
| title_full | The Roots of the Obesity Boom. The Relationship Between Overweight and Educational Level Among Dutch Men, 1950–1979 |
| title_fullStr | The Roots of the Obesity Boom. The Relationship Between Overweight and Educational Level Among Dutch Men, 1950–1979 |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Roots of the Obesity Boom. The Relationship Between Overweight and Educational Level Among Dutch Men, 1950–1979 |
| title_short | The Roots of the Obesity Boom. The Relationship Between Overweight and Educational Level Among Dutch Men, 1950–1979 |
| title_sort | roots of the obesity boom the relationship between overweight and educational level among dutch men 1950 1979 |
| topic | Obesity Height BMI Weight The Netherlands Anthropometric history |
| url | https://openjournals.nl/index.php/hlcs/article/view/9580 |
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