DO BIOMARKERS VARY BY SOCIAL CLASS, EDUCATION AND REGION AND IS MIGRATION IMPORTANT? EVIDENCE FROM A COHORT OF BRITISH ADULTS

Abstract

SummaryThe aim of this study was to test whether Body Mass Index (BMI), waist circumference, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, Forced Expiratory Volume (FEV1) and Peak Expiratory Flow (PEF) vary in relation to social class at birth and adulthood, educational level and region of residence, and also with inter-generational social, educational and regional mobility/migration. The study used 5702 adults (2894 males and 2718 females) from the longitudinal British National Child Development Study (all children born in England, Scotland and Wales during the first week in March 1958 with follow-up throughout childhood and adulthood, most recently at 55 years of age). In both sexes BMI and waist circumference tended to increase from social classes I+II to IV+V and higher social class was associated with higher mean FEV1 and PEF. Better-educated adults tended to have lower BMI and waist circumference, and higher mean FEV1 and PEF. Women from Wales had the highest mean BMI and waist circumference but the lowest mean PEF, while women in Scotland had the highest mean systolic blood pressure and the lowest mean FEV1. For men only, FEV1 and PEF showed regional variation and the lowest mean FEV1 was in Wales and the lowest PEF in Yorkshire & Humberside. Inter-generational social mobility was not found to be associated with any of the biomarkers, while educational mobility was related only to FEV1 and PEF. In both sexes, in unadjusted regression analysis regional migrant cohort members tended to have a lower mean BMI than sedentes. Regional male migrants also tended to have a lower waist circumference and a higher FEV1 and PEF than sedentes.