Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the International Epidemiological Association © The Author 2009; all rights reserved.
Commentary: Closing the disparity gaps in obesity
WHO Collaborating Centre for Obesity Prevention, Deakin University, 221 Burwood Highway, Melbourne 3125, Australia. E-mail: boyd.swinburn@deakin.edu.au
Accepted 4 December 2008
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The two big challenges that obesity presents us with are how to reduce its overall burden and how to reduce its associated disparities—especially the disparities by socio-economic position (SEP) and ethnicity. The paper by Clarke et al.1 in this issue elegantly highlights the epidemiology of the obesity epidemic in relation to the changing patterns in the USA across gender, ethnicity, SEP, age and cohort. As shown in this and other US studies in adults and children,2–4 the inter-relationships between these factors are complex and changing over time. Sophisticated studies, such as this analysis of the Monitoring the Future Study (MTS), are needed to