The association of body mass index with social and economic disadvantage in women and men

Background Although an inverse relationship between socioeconomic status an d body mass index (BMI) is well documented, broad population studies focusi ng on the association between BMI and various forms of disadvantage such as unemployment, low income or social isolation are rare. Methods A nationwide, representative sample of 25-64-year-old Finnish subje cts (n = 6016) was classified according to their BMI into four groups: 'thi n' (BMI <20),'normal' (BMI 20-24.9), 'overweight' (BMI 25-29.9) and 'obese' (BMI greater than or equal to 30). Multivariable analyses using logistic r egression were conducted with this BMI-grouping as an independent variable to predict social and economic disadvantage, controlling simultaneously for age, educational attainment, region of residence, and limiting long-standi ng illness. Results In women, overweight was associated with current unemployment and o besity with long-term unemployment as well as absence of close friends outs ide the family circle. Both overweight and obesity were associated with low individual earnings. Obese women were also most likely to have low househo ld disposable and individual incomes; a similar pattern was seen among thin women. A small subgroup of thin men were socially and economically disadva ntaged with all our indicators whereas excess body weight was not problemat ic for men. Conclusions Deviant body weight is associated with social and economic disa dvantage in a gender-specific and partly curvilinear way. In particular, ob ese women face multiple social and economic disadvantage.