Add “Debt” to the List of Risk Factors for Overweight/Obesity

An unrecognized consequence of the recession may well be more people who are overweight or obese, according to an article published in BMC Public Health online. Economic problems aren’t confined to the USA, and evidence for the relationship with weight gain comes from two population-based surveys done in Germany.

While socioeconomic status is well-known to be associated with overweight and obesity, its definition doesn’t include indebtedness. The German researchers decided to investigate the increasing impact of debt on overweight and obesity. In a first survey, done in 2003, socioeconomic status was assessed in relation to disease risk factors, quality of life scores, and healthcare use; there were 8,000 responders who were representative for the German population.  The second survey, done in 2006 and 2007, assessed the health status of 949 ‘over-indebted’ individuals. Over-indebtedness was defined as ‘lack of possible debt redemption in due time due to the relation of income and cost of living after a remarkable cutback in standard of living’; in other words, debt which has become a major burden for the borrower.

Comparing the two survey results showed the over-indebted people were younger, less educated, with a lower income, but having a higher prevalence of depression, overweight, obesity, and smoking than those classified as from the first (socioeconomic status) survey.

After corrections were made for possible confounding factors – age, sex, education, income, depression, and smoking – independent effects of over-indebtedness on the likelihoods of overweight and obesity were found. Debt-burdened participants were 1.97 times as likely to be overweight and 2.56 times as likely to be obese, compared with non-debt-laden persons.

These results are not too surprising, and it’s likely they would be similar in a US population. We may expect weight problems to increase as debt-laden people are forced to make cheaper (and hence less healthy) food choices, and have to cut back on healthy lifestyle activities. It wouldn’t be so bad if soda drinks were dropped in favor of tap water, though.