Educational differences in mortality associated with central obesity: Decomposing the contribution of risk and prevalence.

ABSTRACT: Thousands of preventable deaths are attributed to obesity in the United States. However, the harmfulness of obesity varies across the population; individuals' education determines access to healthful resources and exposure to competing risks, dampening/amplifying obesity-associated mortality risk. Using restricted U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data (N = 40,058; 1988-2015), this study estimates educational differences in mortality attributable to central obesity (waist-to-height ratio ≥0.5) - a dangerous form of abdominal adiposity. Over 30% of excess deaths are attributable to central obesity among college-educated adults, compared to 1-10% among their less-educated counterparts. This difference is larger for cardiometabolic-related mortality, as central obesity may

SUBMITTER: Gutin I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7443193 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature