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This review aims to clarify the relationship between income and obesity, focusing on both social causation and reverse causality.

January 1, 2018BMJ OpenOpen Access

Income and obesity: what is the direction of the relationship? A systematic review and meta-analysis

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Systematic review and meta-analysis examines how income affects obesity and vice versa, highlighting implications for public health.

This review aims to clarify the relationship between income and obesity, focusing on both social causation and reverse causality.
Conducted a systematic literature search in January 2017 across multiple databases.
Identified prospective cohort studies with quantitative data on income and obesity.
Applied meta-analytic methods using random-effect models and assessed study quality with the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale.
21 studies were included in the meta-analysis, primarily from the USA, UK, and Canada.
Lower income is associated with subsequent obesity (OR 1.27, 95% CI 1.10 to 1.47), but significance lessens with publication bias adjustment.
More robust evidence supports reverse causality, where obesity negatively impacts income (standardized mean difference -0.15, 95% CI -0.30 to 0.01).

Kim et al. (2018) studied this question.

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