[bean27j]

In an article published by Harvard Medical School, the reasons why stress causes us to turn to food are discussed. The main reason we eat when we are under stress is because of the stress hormone cortisol. This hormone leads to an increase in appetite, and when we are under stress, the first...

[msu-bobkat-blog]

That's all very interesting, but I have to say that I'm pretty sure stress drinking and smoking sounds more harmful than some ice cream.

[msu-bobkat-blog]

SES, Obesity, and the Danish

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24743012 This is a link to an abstract of an article titled Associations between adolescent and adult socioeconomic status and risk of obesity and overweight in Danish adults.  It is able to be read in full if willing to purchase the PDF or through MSU databases.

Below is one of my annotated bibliographies for a quicker read than the article.

This article contains correlational data between socioeconomic status, SES, and the risk of obesity.  This article took into consideration the individual changes that occur in SES over time; to take that into account data was used from a 20-22 year study.  Subjects completed baseline data of self-reported   height and weight, to determine BMI.  Subjects also included physical activity information.  Baseline SES was assessed by asking open ended questions about the paternal occupation and education.  A follow up survey was completed to assess the individual changes.  During this follow up survey the subjects again self-reported height and weight and then gave their own occupation and education.  With this data it was found that among females individual SES was linearly associated with being overweight or obese.  There were higher percentages of overweight women from low SES compared to those from high SES. This survey had a small sample size, which makes it difficult to make any finite conclusions.  The article does recognize that the survey only can show correlation as well as compares its data with other studies.  The article did recognize the bias that could occur from the self-reported information in the study.  Women feel more of a social pressure to fit a certain standard as far as body image, therefore are more likely to falsify data to fit into that standard, which can skew data and results.  

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Women in Lower Incomes

Last week I talked about an article from the CDC that provided a lot of information on the increase of obesity rates over the past few decades.  http://www.prb.org/Publications/Articles/2010/usobesity.aspx this article provides a lot of the same information, it's just a touch more simply put.  

Both of articles focus mostly on levels of income and obesity.  Income is only one characteristic of SES, but this prb article mentions that "Half of obesity-related medical costs are paid by Medicaid and Medicare, putting a strain on public budgets." Which gives an interesting point about how obesity, not only produces strain on an individual and families, but also on an entire community.  

Again, both articles touch on how obesity rates and SES are pretty consistent in men, but in women, specifically women in the US, tend to have higher rates of obesity in lower income settings.  Like I said this prb article is a simple, quick read and has some interesting points.  So I won't spoil the entire thing.  Take a look and enjoy.

[msu-bobkat-blog]

CDC Data Brief

The CDC completed a national health and nutrition examination survey in 2005 through 2008.  Here are some of their key findings that are listed in their data brief, http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db50.htm.  

Among men, obesity prevalence is generally similar at all income levels.

There is no significant trend between obesity and education among men. Among women, however, there is a trend, those with college degrees are less likely to be obese compared with less educated women.

Between 1988–1994 and 2007–2008 the prevalence of obesity increased in adults at all income and education levels.

The more research I do about the correlation of SES and obesity, the more I see that most of the trends are prevalent among women, more so than they are among men.  This makes me curious about why that is; my mind first jumps to social views and norms and how those generally affect women more than men.  This also makes me think that I need to narrow in my research a bit and focus specifically on women, obesity, and SES.  

[msu-bobkat-blog]

Physical and Social Variables

This being my first attempt at tumblr, my research topic is rather vague.  Earlier in the month I tweeted, @WillKatelyn, the components that make up the definition of socioeconomic status, they are education, income, and occupation.  I have been doing research on the effects of SES on obesity.  Obesity and Socioeconomic Status: A Framework for Examining Relationships Between Physical and Social Variables, http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01459740.1991.9966050, is the article where I started my  search.  One of the first things that author, Jeffery Sobal, draws attention to is that SES has its base in social sciences where obesity has its base in life sciences.  This difference calls to analyze both obesity and SES on several different levels.  SES is observed on a social level, but can affect obesity that can be seen by physical means, such as calculations.  The opposite can be done to see the effect of obesity on SES.  Sobal states that this happens because of the different ways that obesity is perceived in a social system.  One of the things that I found most interesting in this article, I also tweeted earlier; there is a difference in relation of obesity and SES between different cultures.  In more traditional cultures a higher weight is held in higher regard, so therefore those who are able to achieve a higher weight generally have a higher SES; the two are directly proportional.  In more modern settings, thinness is seen as more desirable; so individuals with the means of achieving this generally have a higher SES, the two variables have an indirect relationship.  Overall the article is a very interesting read and I suggest taking a look at it.