Hamburg (dpa) - The global economic malaise could result in a
generation of flabbier people who try to assuage their worries by
over-eating, according to a team of German researchers.
Credit-card debt is associated with an increased prevalence of
overweight and obesity that is not explained by traditional
definitions of socio-economic status, according to the team of
scientists led by Dr Eva Muenster at the University of Mainz who
tracked the weight of more than 9,000 people.
"Over-indebtedness should be additionally considered when
assessing health effects of socio-economic status," Dr Muenster wrote
in the online journal BMC Public Health.
"The recent credit crunch will have implications for private
households," the German researchers warned. "Low socio-economic
status is associated to various diseases. While income, education and
occupational status is frequently used in definitions of
socio-economic status, over-indebtedness of private households is
usually not considered," the researchers added.
"Over-indebtedness is currently increasing in high-income
countries. However, its association with health - particularly with
obesity - remains unknown," they said.
The aim of their study was to assess an association between
over-indebtedness and overweight or obesity.
The study surveyed a cross-sectional study on over-indebtedness
and health including 949 over-indebted subjects from 2006 and 2007 in
two states in Germany as well as a telephonic health survey in 2003
by the Robert Koch-Institute including 8,318 subjects, who are
representative for the German population.
The stunning results showed that people with staggering credit
card debt indulged in "comfort eating" while also getting less
exercise.
"After adjusting for socio-economic (age, sex, education, income)
and health factors (depression, smoking habits) an independent effect
of the over-indebtedness situation on the probability of overweight
and obesity could be identified," the German scientists wrote.
"A person's ability to pick and choose the food they eat often
depends on the financial resources they have available," Muenster
said. "Energy-dense foods such as sweets or fatty snacks are often
less expensive compared to food with lower energy density such as
fruit or vegetables."
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