Ethnic inequalities in obesity among children and adults in the UK: a systematic review of the literature.

Ethnic minority groups are growing as a proportion of the British population. Although disparate, literature suggests inequalities in obesity risk within and among ethnic minority groups relative to Caucasians in the UK. We summarize and appraise the existing peer-reviewed literature about the preva...

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Main Authors: El-Sayed, A, Scarborough, P, Galea, S
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: 2011
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author El-Sayed, A
Scarborough, P
Galea, S
author_facet El-Sayed, A
Scarborough, P
Galea, S
author_sort El-Sayed, A
collection OXFORD
description Ethnic minority groups are growing as a proportion of the British population. Although disparate, literature suggests inequalities in obesity risk within and among ethnic minority groups relative to Caucasians in the UK. We summarize and appraise the existing peer-reviewed literature about the prevalence and determinants of obesity among ethnic minority groups relative to Caucasians among children and adults in the UK. There was no consensus about obesity prevalence relative to Caucasians among South Asian or Black children or among South Asian adults relative to Caucasians. Black adults generally had higher risk for obesity than Caucasians. Both Chinese children and adults had lower risk for obesity than Caucasians. Few studies have considered differences in the aetiology of obesity by ethnicity. The lack of consensus regarding obesity risk among large ethnic minority groups relative to Caucasians in the UK, and the paucity of studies concerned with differences in obesity aetiology by ethnicity warrant further research in this area. Certain obesity metrics may bias obesity prevalence among particular ethnic groups relative to Caucasians. We summarize key methodological limitations to the current literature and suggest avenues for future research.
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spelling oxford-uuid:f6314ab1-1e32-4168-9294-f2ee0daaa5782022-03-27T12:33:15ZEthnic inequalities in obesity among children and adults in the UK: a systematic review of the literature.Journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:f6314ab1-1e32-4168-9294-f2ee0daaa578EnglishSymplectic Elements at Oxford2011El-Sayed, AScarborough, PGalea, SEthnic minority groups are growing as a proportion of the British population. Although disparate, literature suggests inequalities in obesity risk within and among ethnic minority groups relative to Caucasians in the UK. We summarize and appraise the existing peer-reviewed literature about the prevalence and determinants of obesity among ethnic minority groups relative to Caucasians among children and adults in the UK. There was no consensus about obesity prevalence relative to Caucasians among South Asian or Black children or among South Asian adults relative to Caucasians. Black adults generally had higher risk for obesity than Caucasians. Both Chinese children and adults had lower risk for obesity than Caucasians. Few studies have considered differences in the aetiology of obesity by ethnicity. The lack of consensus regarding obesity risk among large ethnic minority groups relative to Caucasians in the UK, and the paucity of studies concerned with differences in obesity aetiology by ethnicity warrant further research in this area. Certain obesity metrics may bias obesity prevalence among particular ethnic groups relative to Caucasians. We summarize key methodological limitations to the current literature and suggest avenues for future research.
spellingShingle El-Sayed, A
Scarborough, P
Galea, S
Ethnic inequalities in obesity among children and adults in the UK: a systematic review of the literature.
title Ethnic inequalities in obesity among children and adults in the UK: a systematic review of the literature.
title_full Ethnic inequalities in obesity among children and adults in the UK: a systematic review of the literature.
title_fullStr Ethnic inequalities in obesity among children and adults in the UK: a systematic review of the literature.
title_full_unstemmed Ethnic inequalities in obesity among children and adults in the UK: a systematic review of the literature.
title_short Ethnic inequalities in obesity among children and adults in the UK: a systematic review of the literature.
title_sort ethnic inequalities in obesity among children and adults in the uk a systematic review of the literature
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AT scarboroughp ethnicinequalitiesinobesityamongchildrenandadultsintheukasystematicreviewoftheliterature
AT galeas ethnicinequalitiesinobesityamongchildrenandadultsintheukasystematicreviewoftheliterature