In a recently published study in the Obesity Society’s peer-reviewed journal, Obesity, University of Alabama at Birmingham health disparities researchers have explored how understanding inequalities in wealth is important to addressing health disparities in health and obesity.
There is a lack of research on the relationship between obesity and wealth for adults entering mid-life. During this time of life, factors of socioeconomic status (SES) like education and occupation tend to stabilize, but not wealth. This first-of-its-kind study aims to address this information gap by examining total net worth in conjunction with five components of wealth.
“We separated wealth — which is typically measured as net worth — into housing wealth, automotive vehicle value, debt, savings and investments,” said Joseph Wolfe, Ph.D., associate professor in the UAB College of Arts and Sciences Department of Sociology and first author of the study. “Each of these components of wealth represent potential resources for health and health behaviors.”