Life-course socioeconomic status and obesity: a scoping review protocol

BMJ Open. 2024 Feb 17;14(2):e077750. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2023-077750.

Abstract

Objective: We aim to explore the literature that studies the links between life-course socioeconomic status and weight status and characterize the life-course approach used.

Introduction: Obesogenic environments are increasing rapidly in deprived environments, and cross-sectional studies have shown limitations in explaining the links between these environments and obesity. The life-course approach has been proposed recently to better understand the links between socioeconomic status and weight status.

Inclusion criteria: Studies that identify life-course socioeconomic status and longitudinal built environment indicators and associate them with body weight indicators between January 2000 and January 2023.

Methods: Studies in French or English were searched in Medline (PubMed), Web of Science and GeoBase (Embase) according to the strategies formulated for each database. The selected studies were exported to Covidence for evaluation according to the inclusion/exclusion criteria.

Results: The main results retained are the association between longitudinal socioeconomic indicators and weight measures; longitudinal built environment indicators and the measures of weight.

Keywords: EPIDEMIOLOGY; Health Equity; Obesity.

MeSH terms

  • Built Environment
  • Cross-Sectional Studies
  • Humans
  • Obesity* / epidemiology
  • Review Literature as Topic
  • Social Class*
  • Socioeconomic Factors