Adherence
Lower socioeconomic status is associated with lower dietary restraint, higher tolerance for weight gain, and fewer healthy weight control practices (e.g., reducing calories, increasing exercise), while unhealthy practices (e.g., fasting, laxative use) are more common but not always statistically significant.
Weight control programs for lower income women should focus on building dietary restraint and healthy weight management skills (e.g., regular weighing, reducing calories, increasing exercise) rather than assuming a lack of motivation or concern about weight. Addressing the higher tolerance for weight gain and teaching specific healthy practices can improve outcomes.
Women in higher income groups reported that they would have to gain less weight before noticing it and less weight before taking action than those in lower income groups... Dietary restraint also increased monotonically with increasing income. History of dieting, frequency of weighing, and healthful weight loss practices were positively related to reported income.
Why this rating
Large sample, clear gradients in behavioral measures, but cross-sectional design limits causal inference.
Source
Socioeconomic status and weight control practices among 20- to 45-year-old women.
Robert W. Jeffery et al. · American Journal of Public Health · 1996
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