Obesity: deprivation
Adults
Levels of obesity vary by area deprivation measured by Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD). Obesity is patterned by inequality, Scottish Health Survey 2019 categorises and evaluates obesity based on the SIMD and found that -
- Obesity levels and risks, categorised by combined BMI and waist circumference, amongst adults was least prevelant within the lowest deprived quintile (quintile 5) (26%) and highest in the most deprived quintile (1st quintile) (36%) (Chart 1).
- The percentage of scottish adults classified as obese increasing linearly through the quintiles from SIMD 5 (least deprived) to SIMD 1 (most deprived) (chart 1).
The 2011 Scottish Health Survey (SHeS) report included, for the first time, some deprivation analysis of obesity related disease risk using a measure recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), and endorsed in Scotland by the Scottish Intercollegiate Guideline Network (SIGN), that takes into account both BMI and waist circumference. Further information and detail on this disease risk classification is available from the SHeS.
Tables 1 and 2 below present analysis for adults aged 16 years and over, based on the larger sample provided by the 2008-2011 combined SHeS data, on disease risk by SIMD. In summary:
- Men living in the least deprived SIMD quintile were least likely to have health risks (49.1% had no increased risk, compared with 44.7%-46.6% of those living elsewhere) (Table 1).
-
There was a more obvious gradient in the association between risk profile and area deprivation among women. The proportion at no increased health risk generally declined as deprivation increased (from 45.3% in the least deprived quintile to 29.8% in the most deprived) (Table 2). Conversely, the proportion in the high risk group generally increased in line with deprivation, while the proportion of women in the very / extremely high risk group doubled between the least and most deprived quintiles (from 17.7% to 35.6%).
| Health risk categorya | Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation quintile |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5th (least deprived) |
4th | 3rd | 2nd | 1st (most deprived) |
|
| Not applicable | 0.6% | 0.2% | 2.2% | 2.7% | 1.5% |
| No increased | 49.1% | 44.9% | 46.0% | 44.7% | 46.6% |
| Increased | 19.3% | 19.7% | 20.2% | 17.9% | 13.1% |
| High | 13.2% | 12.5% | 12.0% | 10.7% | 11.5% |
| Very High | 17.6% | 22.1% | 19.0% | 20.6% | 24.9% |
| Extremely high | 0.3% | 0.6% | 0.6% | 3.4% | 2.5% |
| Health risk categorya | Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation quintile |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5th (least deprived) |
4th | 3rd | 2nd | 1st (most deprived) |
|
| Not applicable | 2.9% | 0.4% | 1.1% | 2.1% | 2.1% |
| No increased | 45.3% | 39.6% | 41.8% | 34.9% | 29.8% |
| Increased | 15.2% | 14.6% | 15.6% | 13.1% | 13.9% |
| High | 18.9% | 21.4% | 16.4% | 17.9% | 18.8% |
| Very High | 16.6% | 21.7% | 22.0% | 25.6% | 30.7% |
| Extremely high | 1.1% | 2.4% | 3.1% | 6.5% | 4.9% |
a: Health risk category according to SIGN guidelines. See Table 7.5 of Scottish Health Survey 2011 report for full details of the categories
Children
Levels of obesity also vary by area deprivation measured by SIMD quintile for children.
Data from the NHS board (2020/21) display the differences in children categorised as obese and severely obese (BMI>=98th centile) by SIMD quintile and show that
- In SIMD 1, the most deprived quintile, they have the highest rates of obesity and severe obesity at 15.1% of children comparatively to that of SIMD 5 (least deprived quintile) having rates of 5% of children categorised as obese and severely obese.
Chart 3 shows the distribution of obesity risk in Primary 1 school children by SIMD quintile (data are from Body Mass Index of Primary 1 Children in Scotland School Year 2018/169). A clear inequality exists with 20.8% of Primary 1 pupils living in the least deprived quintile at risk of obesity & overweight compared to 35.7% in the most deprived quintile in 2020/21.
Please note: If you require the most up-to-date data available, please check the data sources directly as new data may have been published since these data pages were last updated. Although we endeavour to ensure that the data pages are kept up-to-date, there may be a time lag between new data being published and the relevant ScotPHO web pages being updated.
