Obesity Is in the Eye of the Beholder
BMI and Socioeconomic Outcomes across Cohorts
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 13090443 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Vida Maralani (0000-0003-3353-1273, Cornell University, corresponding author), Douglas McKee (0000-0002-2995-3513, Cornell University) |
| Year | 2017 |
| Volume | 4 |
| Pages | 288-317 |
| Publication date | 2017-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Sociological Science (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2330-6696 • E-ISSN: 2330-6696 |
| Publisher | Society for Sociological Science (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.15195/v4.a13 |
| OpenAlex | W2605855356 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 9 |
| References cited | 37 |
The biological and social costs of body mass cannot be conceptualized in the same way. Using semiparametric methods, we show that the association between body mass index (BMI) and socioeconomic outcomes such as wages, being married, and family income is distinctly shaped by gender, race, and cohort rather than being above a specific threshold of BMI. For white men, the correlation between BMI and outcomes is positive across the 'normal' range of BMI and turns negative near the cusp of the overweight range, a pattern that persists across cohorts. For white women, thinner is nearly always better, a pattern that also persists across cohorts. For black men in the 1979 cohort, the association between BMI and wages is positive across the normal and overweight ranges for wages and family income and inverted U–shaped for marriage. For black women in the 1979 cohort, thinner is better for wages and marriage. By the 1997 cohort, however, the negative association between body mass and outcomes dissipates for black Americans but not for white Americans. In the social world, 'too fat' is a subjective, contingent, and fluid judgment that differs depending on who is being judged, who does the judging, and the social domain
Body mass index · Cohort · Cohort study · Obesity · Overweight · Population · Socioeconomic status · Sociology · Bariatric Surgery and Outcomes · Demography · Medicine · Obesity and Health Practices · Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet · Psychology · Endocrinology
“Is it better to be fat than ugly?”
Assessing the importance of relative body weight in shaping life satisfaction
The Emergence of (Male) Eating Disorders as a Clinical Entity
Ethical sensitivity in co-production
Race/ethnicity, gender and the SES gradient in BMI
The Weight Wage Penalty
The effects of relative body weight on socioemotional and schooling outcomes among female adolescents in the United States
Social network-structural position and obesity
Coloring Weight Stigma
What's Wrong with Fat?
Unbearable Weight
The Impact of Obesity on Wages
Bias, Discrimination, and Obesity
The wage effects of obesity
The Stigma of Obesity in Women
Social and Economic Consequences of Overweight in Adolescence and Young Adulthood
The Economic Reality of the Beauty Myth
The Epidemiology of Obesity
Beyond BMI
Income Disparities in Body Mass Index and Obesity in the United States, 1971-2002
The Stigma of Obesity
On a New Schedule
The Skinny on Success
The interplay between gender, race and weight status
Anthropometry and socioeconomics among couples
Socioeconomic status and obesity
The Life Course of Severe Obesity
Internet Daters’ Body Type Preferences
Body Size, Skills, and Income
Tomb, Temple, Machine and Self
Intermarriage and Homogamy
Body Weight and Matching With a Physically Attractive Romantic Partner
| Unique citing works | 9 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,13 |
| Citation span | 2018 - 2025 (8) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 9 |