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. 2003 Nov;93(11):1844-50.
doi: 10.2105/ajph.93.11.1844.

The public health impact of socioeconomic status on adolescent depression and obesity

Elizabeth Goodman  1 , Gail B Slap, Bin Huang
Affiliations

The public health impact of socioeconomic status on adolescent depression and obesity

Elizabeth Goodman et al. Am J Public Health. 2003 Nov.

Abstract

Objectives: We examined the public health impact of the socioeconomic status (SES) gradient on adolescents' physical and mental health.

Methods: Population attributable risk (PAR) for household income and parental education were calculated relative to depression and obesity among a nationally representative sample of 15,112 adolescents.

Results: PARs for income and education were large. Across each gender and race/ethnicity group, the PAR for education tended to exceed that for income. For depression, the adjusted PAR for income was 26%, and the PAR for education was 40%; for obesity, the adjusted PAR for income was 32%, and the PAR for education was 39%.

Conclusions: SES is associated with a large proportion of the disease burden within the total population.

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