Illustrating a "consequential" shift in the study of health inequalities: a decomposition of racial differences in the distribution of body mass.

ABSTRACT:

Purpose

We present a conceptual introduction to "distributional inequalities"-differences in distributions of risk factors or other outcomes between social groups-as a consequential shift for research on health inequalities. We also review a companion analytical methodology, "distributional decomposition", which can assess the population characteristics that explain distributional inequalities.

Methods

Using the 1999-2012 U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, we apply statistical decomposition to (a) document gender-specific, black-white inequalities in the distribution of body mass index (BMI) and, (b) assess the extent to which demographic (age), socioeconomic (family income, education), and behavioral predictors (caloric intake, physical activity, smoking

SUBMITTER: Siddiqi A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5875451 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature