Growing social inequalities in the occurrence of overweight and obesity among young men in Sweden

Abstract

Aims: The aims of the present study are to investigate time trends and social inequalities in mean body mass index (BMI), overweight, and obesity among 18-year-old men in Sweden from 1970 to 2000 and to explore whether social inequalities in these conditions have increased. Methods: A record linkage was made between the Military Service Conscription Register, Population and Housing Censuses, the Register of Education and the Register of the Total Population. All 1,748,800 males born in 1952—82 who were living in Sweden at the age of 17 years in 1969—99 were eligible for this nationwide study. The study population comprises 1,500,499 18-year-old men with information on BMI (86% of eligible subjects). Results: During the study period from 1970 to 2000, mean BMI increased from 20.89 kg/m2 to 22.49 kg/m2, the prevalence of overweight increased from 6.6% to 13.6% and the prevalence of obesity increased from 1.0% to 3.8%. Mean BMI and the prevalence of overweight and obesity were higher among young men with low-educated mothers than among those with high-educated mothers. A noteworthy finding was that the socioeconomic gap increased over time. Conclusions: Between 1970 and 2000, the prevalence of overweight increased twofold and the prevalence of obesity increased fourfold in this study population. The social inequalities in overweight and obesity have steadily increased among young men in Sweden during the past three decades.