Research

Energy balance

Higher Socioeconomic Status (SES) is positively associated with higher BMI in both men and women in this rural South African population, acting as a proxy for access to calorie-dense foods like sugar-sweetened beverages.

In this community, having higher income is linked to higher BMI, likely due to increased consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and processed foods. Weight management strategies should focus on identifying and reducing intake of these specific high-calorie, low-nutrient foods rather than just general 'eating less'.

ModerateSupportsMEDIUM confidence
a significant positive association with socio-economic status (SES) was observed in both sexes. ... a high SES was associated with high BMI, which might serve as a proxy to having sufficient resources for access to more food and sugar sweetened beverages (SSBs)
Felistas Mashinya et al. · Global Health Action · 2018

Why this rating

Cross-sectional design; however, the association was robust across hierarchical models.

Source

Determinants of body mass index by gender in the Dikgale Health and Demographic Surveillance System site, South Africa

Felistas Mashinya et al. · Global Health Action · 2018

DOI 10.1080/16549716.2018.1537613

cross_sectional · n=1143Cited 42×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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