Childhood socioeconomic position (SEP) is inversely associated with cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality. Obesity in adulthood may be a biologic mechanism. Objectives were to systematically review literature published between 1998 and 2008 that examined associations of childhood SEP with adulthood obesity. Five databases (Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, Web of Science) were searched for studies from any country, in any language. Forty-eight publications based on 30 studies were identified. In age-adjusted analyses, inverse associations were found between childhood SEP and adulthood obesity in 70% (14 of 20) of studies in females and 27% (4 of 15) in males. In studies of females showing inverse associations between childhood SEP and adulthood obesity, typical effect sizes in age-adjusted analyses for the difference in body mass index between the highest and lowest SEP were 1.0-2.0 kg/m(2); for males, effect sizes were typically 0.2-0.5 kg/m(2). Analyses adjusted for age and adult SEP showed inverse associations in 47% (8 of 17) of studies in females and 14% (2 of 14) of studies in males. When other covariates were additionally adjusted for, inverse associations were found in 4 of 12 studies in females and 2 of 8 studies in males; effect sizes were typically reduced compared with analyses adjusted for age only. In summary, the findings suggest that childhood SEP is inversely related to adulthood obesity in females and not associated in males after adjustment for age. Adulthood SEP and other obesity risk factors may be the mechanisms responsible for the observed associations between childhood SEP and adulthood obesity.

中文翻译：

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儿童社会经济地位与成年肥胖之间的关联。


儿童期社会经济地位（SEP）与心血管疾病和全因死亡率呈负相关。成年期肥胖可能是一种生物学机制。目的是系统回顾 1998 年至 2008 年间发表的研究儿童 SEP 与成年肥胖之间关系的文献。搜索了五个数据库（Cochrane Library、MEDLINE、EMBASE、PsycINFO、Web of Science），以查找来自任何国家、使用任何语言的研究。确定了基于 30 项研究的 48 篇出版物。在年龄调整分析中，70%（20 项研究中有 14 项）针对女性，27%（15 项研究中有 4 项）针对男性，儿童 SEP 与成年肥胖之间存在负相关。在针对女性的研究中，显示儿童期 SEP 与成年肥胖之间呈负相关，在年龄调整分析中，最高和最低 SEP 之间体重指数差异的典型效应大小为 1.0-2.0 kg/m(2)；对于男性，效应大小通常为 0.2-0.5 kg/m(2)。根据年龄和成人 SEP 进行调整的分析显示，47%（17 名中的 8 名）女性研究和 14%（14 名中 2 名男性研究）存在负相关。当另外调整其他协变量时，12 项针对女性的研究中有 4 项发现了负相关，8 项针对男性的研究中有 2 项发现了负相关；与仅根据年龄调整的分析相比，效应大小通常会减小。总之，研究结果表明，在调整年龄后，儿童期 SEP 与女性成年期肥胖呈负相关，而与男性无关。成年期 SEP 和其他肥胖风险因素可能是导致观察到的儿童期 SEP 与成年期肥胖之间关联的机制。