Publication year: 2011
Source: Social Science & Medicine, In Press, Accepted Manuscript, Available online 28 August 2011
Markus H., Schafer , Kenneth F., Ferraro
Medical sociologists hold that social conditions generate disparities across a host of health conditions through exposure to a variety of more proximate risk factors. Though distal and proximal causes jointly influence disease, the nature of risk accumulation may differ appreciably by the link of a proximal cause to the outcome in question. This paper employs a representative sample of over 3,000 American older adults to examine whether position in the educational gradient amplifies the effect of obesity on two health outcomes. Results indicate that educational inequalities amplify the effect of high body mass index on disability (unstandardized coefficients across education…
Highlights: ► From this sample of older Americans, levels of C-reactive protein and disability are generally higher among those who have lower levels of education. ► Disparities in education amplify the effect of high body mass index on disability. ► The relationship between C-reactive protein and body mass index is twice as strong for women than for men, and it is not moderated by educational attainment. ► When causes are relatively proximate to a health outcome, there is less room for problems associated with low education to compound already-existent proximate risks.