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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Main Authors: Björn Quanjer, Kristina Thompson
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: International Institute of Social History 2021-03-01
Series:Historical Life Course Studies
Subjects:
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.
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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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