title: Childhood poverty and abdominal obesity in adulthood: a systematic review.
abstract: Adverse socioeconomic conditions in childhood can have lasting effects on health, but evidence is lacking from prospective studies concerning the effects of early poverty on abdominal obesity in adulthood. Cross-sectional studies in adults from middle and high-income countries show that current socioeconomic status is inversely related to obesity in women, but the pattern in men is not consistent. A systematic review was undertaken to assess the influence of early socioeconomic status on waist circumference, hip circumference, and waist-hip ratio in adulthood. Thirteen relevant articles were located (five cross-sectional and eight cohort), including only one from a middle-income country and the remainder from high-income settings. In all the studies, childhood poverty was associated with higher levels of abdominal obesity in women. In men, the associations were weaker, and no clear pattern emerged.
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de Pelotas, Pelotas, Brasil. david.epidemio@gmail.com
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: González
authors.forename: Aydin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nazmi
authors.forename: Cesar G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Victora
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002664:Child Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D056128:Obesity, Abdominal / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D011203:Poverty; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D055105:Waist Circumference; D049629:Waist-Hip Ratio