Fat wallet, thick waistline
CARLY WEEKS
From Thursday's Globe and Mail
December 18, 2008 at 8:56 AM EST
There's truth to the old expression "dollars to doughnuts."
The richer a man is, the greater his chances are of being fat, according to a report from Statistics Canada released yesterday.
More than two-thirds of Canadian men considered to be overweight or obese belong to the country's upper-middle and high income brackets, the survey revealed.
The link between affluence and spare-tire syndrome is a puzzling phenomenon in a society in which low-income households generally have the worst health, the study said.
Poorer Canadians tend to be at higher risk for cardiovascular disease, diabetes and various types of cancer, and may consume more fast food and have limited access to health services.
But, as it turns out, they often weigh less than white-collar fat cats - at least as far as the men are concerned.
Women, on the other hand, are no more likely to be overweight if they belong to a higher-income household.
The discrepancy is not explained by men with higher incomes gorging on red meat and equating surfing the Internet with exercise. In fact, wealthier survey respondents ate more fruits and vegetables than those with lower incomes, and made up for marathon work sessions by getting physically active in their down time.
But those with more money do eat out frequently compared with those who earn less, the study said, highlighting one of the driving forces behind the fact that higher-income males tend to come in soft, round packages.
"People who often eat out tend to consume more calories and to have a higher [body mass index] than do those who usually eat home-prepared meals," according to the study, conducted by Paul Veugelers and Stefan Kuhle, researchers at the University of Alberta's School of Public Health.
Although affluent women are just as likely as wealthy men to eat out, they don't all grow wider as a result.
That's likely because men and women tend to have vastly different perceptions of their body image and how they should look, according to Arya Sharma, professor of medicine and chair of obesity research and management at the University of Alberta.
"[Women] are more likely to be dieting and more likely to be working [out] and doing things about their weight," said Dr. Sharma, who is also the scientific director of the Canadian Obesity Network. "Men are very cavalier about it."
So while a woman sips pinot grigio and snacks on salad at a corporate dinner, the man to her left cleans his plate and washes it down with a few beers.
Men in high-paying, high-stress jobs are also not immune to bad eating habits that are often associated only with women, Dr. Sharma said.
"We normally think of women as emotional eaters, but the same is true for men," he said. "The reward aspect of food is very strong."
People in high-income households were also more likely to quit smoking, which is often associated with increased eating and weight gain, according to the study.
The findings were based on a detailed analysis of the 2004 Canadian Community Health Survey, a national study that looked at demographics, nutrition, physical activity and other factors to help measure the population's health.
The survey found that 53 per cent of women and 65 per cent of men were overweight.
Wealthy men were twice as likely to be overweight than those from lower-income households.
The findings add to the ongoing debate over the association between affluence and obesity. While some studies have concluded that people in high-income households tend to be trimmer than those with lower incomes, the trend among men has been inconsistent.
