Estimating the contribution of overweight and obesity to ethnic inequalities in cardio-metabolic diseases in the Netherlands: a simulation study.

Objectives: Overweight and obesity (OWOB) starts in childhood, influences adult cardiovascular risk, and is not equally distributed across ethnic groups. It is unclear which effects can be expected from reductions in OWOB across the life course on inequalities in cardio-metabolic diseases in a multi-ethnic population. This study aims to estimate the effects of three scenarios of changes in OWOB (the Normal-Weight-for-All scenario, the No-Ethnic-Difference-over-the-Life-Course scenario, the and No-Ethnic-Differences-in-Childhood scenario).

Development of an action programme tackling obesity-related behaviours in adolescents: a participatory system dynamics approach.

System dynamics approaches are increasingly addressing the complexity of public health problems such as childhood overweight and obesity. These approaches often use system mapping methods, such as the construction of causal loop diagrams, to gain an understanding of the system of interest. However, there is limited practical guidance on how such a system understanding can inform the development of an action programme that can facilitate systems changes.

The incremental healthcare cost associated with cancer in Belgium: A registry-based data analysis.

Background: Similar to many countries, Belgium experienced a rapid increase in cancer diagnoses in the last years. Considering that a large part of cancer types could be prevented, our study aimed to estimate the annual healthcare burden of cancer per site, and to compare cost with burden of disease estimates to have a better understanding of the impact of different cancer sites in Belgium.

Methods: We used nationally available data sources to estimate the healthcare expenditure.

Widening educational inequalities in mortality in more recent birth cohorts: a study of 14 European countries.

Background: Studies of period changes in educational inequalities in mortality have shown important changes over time. It is unknown whether a birth cohort perspective paints the same picture. We compared changes in inequalities in mortality between a period and cohort perspective and explored mortality trends among low-educated and high-educated birth cohorts.

Socioeconomic inequalities in cancer mortality between and within countries in Europe: a population-based study.

Background: Reducing socioeconomic inequalities in cancer is a priority for the public health agenda. A systematic assessment and benchmarking of socioeconomic inequalities in cancer across many countries and over time in Europe is not yet available.

Methods: Census-linked, whole-of-population cancer-specific mortality data by socioeconomic position, as measured by education level, and sex were collected, harmonized, analysed, and compared across 18 countries during 1990-2015, in adults aged 40-79.

Future trends of life expectancy by education in the Netherlands.

Background: National projections of life expectancy are made periodically by statistical offices or actuarial societies in Europe and are widely used, amongst others for reforms of pension systems. However, these projections may not provide a good estimate of the future trends in life expectancy of different social-economic groups. The objective of this study is to provide insight in future trends in life expectancies for low, mid and high educated men and women living in the Netherlands.

Socioeconomic inequalities in self-rated health in Japan, 32 European countries and the United States: an international comparative study.

Aims: Japan is known as a country with low self-rated health despite high life expectancy. We compared socioeconomic inequalities in self-rated health in Japan with those in 32 European countries and the US using nationally representative samples.

Methods: We analysed individual data from the Comprehensive Survey of Living Conditions (Japan), the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions, and the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (US) in 2016.

Projecting years in good health between age 50-69 by education in the Netherlands until 2030 using several health indicators - an application in the context of a changing pension age.

Objective: We investigate whether there are changes over time in years in good health people can expect to live above (surplus) or below (deficit) the pension age, by level of attained education, for the past (2006), present (2018) and future (2030) in the Netherlands.

Methods: We used regression analysis to estimate linear trends in prevalence of four health indicators: self-assessed health (SAH), the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) functional limitation indicator, the OECD indicator without hearing and seeing, and the activities-of-daily-living (ADL) disability indicator, for individuals between 50 and 69 years of age, by age category, gender and education using the Dutch National Health Survey (1989-2018). We combined these prevalence estimates with past and projected mortality data to obtain estimates of years lived in good health.

Are we really all in this together? The social patterning of mortality during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium.

Background: Belgium was one of the countries that was struck hard by COVID-19. Initially, the belief was that we were 'all in it together'. Emerging evidence showed however that deprived socioeconomic groups suffered disproportionally.

Trends in inequalities in disability in Europe between 2002 and 2017.

Background: Monitoring socioeconomic inequalities in population health is important in order to reduce them. We aim to determine if educational inequalities in Global Activity Limitation Indicator (GALI) disability have changed between 2002 and 2017 in Europe (26 countries).

Methods: We used logistic regression to quantify the annual change in disability prevalence by education, as well as the annual change in prevalence difference and ratio, both for the pooled sample and each country, as reported in the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) and the European Social Survey (ESS) for individuals aged 30-79 years.

Determinants of educational inequalities in disability-free life expectancy between ages 35 and 80 in Europe.

Socioeconomic inequalities in disability-free life expectancy (DFLE) exist across all European countries, yet the driving determinants of these differences are not completely known. We calculated the impact on educational inequalities in DFLE of equalizing the distribution of eight risk factors for mortality and disability using register-based mortality data and survey data from 15 European countries for individuals between 35 and 80 years old. From the selected risk factors, the ones that contribute the most to the educational inequalities in DFLE are low income, high body-weight, smoking (for men), and manual occupation of the father.

Smoking and inequalities in mortality in 11 European countries: a birth cohort analysis.

Purpose: To study the trends of smoking-attributable mortality among the low and high educated in consecutive birth cohorts in 11 European countries.

Methods: Register-based mortality data were collected among adults aged 30 to 79 years in 11 European countries between 1971 and 2012. Smoking-attributable deaths were estimated indirectly from lung cancer mortality rates using the Preston-Glei-Wilmoth method.

Mixed evidence for the compression of morbidity hypothesis for smoking elimination-a systematic literature review.

Background: There is debate around the composition of life years gained from smoking elimination. The aim of this study was to conduct a systematic review of the literature to synthesize existing evidence on the effect of smoking status on health expectancy and to examine whether smoking elimination leads to compression of morbidity.

Methods: Five databases were systematically searched for peer-reviewed articles.

Determinants of inequalities in years with disability: an international-comparative study.

Background: Persons with a lower socioeconomic position spend more years with disability, despite their shorter life expectancy, but it is unknown what the important determinants are. This study aimed to quantify the contribution to educational inequalities in years with disability of eight risk factors: father's manual occupation, low income, few social contacts, smoking, high alcohol consumption, high body-weight, low physical exercise and low fruit and vegetable consumption.

Methods: We collected register-based mortality and survey-based disability and risk factor data from 15 European countries covering the period 2010-14 for most countries.

Special Report: The Biology of Inequalities in Health: The Lifepath Consortium.

Funded by the European Commission Horizon 2020 programme, the research consortium aimed to investigate the effects of socioeconomic inequalities on the biology of healthy aging. The main research questions included the impact of inequalities on health, the role of behavioral and other risk factors, the underlying biological mechanisms, the efficacy of selected policies, and the general implications of our findings for theories and policies. The project adopted a life-course and comparative approach, considering lifetime effects from childhood and adulthood, and pooled data on up to 1.

The case for action on socioeconomic differences in overweight and obesity among Australian adults: modelling the disease burden and healthcare costs.

Objective: We aimed to quantify the extent to which socioeconomic differences in body mass index (BMI) drive avoidable deaths, incident disease cases and healthcare costs.

Methods: We used population attributable fractions to quantify the annual burden of disease attributable to socioeconomic differences in BMI for Australian adults aged 20 to <85 years in 2016, stratified by quintiles of an area-level indicator of socioeconomic disadvantage (SocioEconomic Index For Areas Indicator of Relative Socioeconomic Disadvantage; SEIFA) and BMI (normal weight, overweight, obese). We estimated direct healthcare costs using annual estimates per person per BMI category.

Potential impact of reduced tobacco use on life and health expectancies in Belgium.

Objectives: We investigated the potential impact of reduced tobacco use scenarios on total life expectancy and health expectancies, i.e., healthy life years and unhealthy life years.

Progress against inequalities in mortality: register-based study of 15 European countries between 1990 and 2015.

Socioeconomic inequalities in mortality are a challenge for public health around the world, but appear to be resistant to policy-making. We aimed to identify European countries which have been more successful than others in narrowing inequalities in mortality, and the factors associated with narrowing inequalities. We collected and harmonised mortality data by educational level in 15 European countries over the last 25 years, and quantified changes in inequalities in mortality using a range of measures capturing different perspectives on inequality (e.

Determinants of inequalities in life expectancy: an international comparative study of eight risk factors.

Background: Socioeconomic inequalities in longevity have been found in all European countries. We aimed to assess which determinants make the largest contribution to these inequalities.

Methods: We did an international comparative study of inequalities in risk factors for shorter life expectancy in Europe.

Progress in reducing inequalities in cardiovascular disease mortality in Europe.

Objective: To assess whether recent declines in cardiovascular mortality have benefited all socioeconomic groups equally and whether these declines have narrowed or widened inequalities in cardiovascular mortality in Europe.

Methods: In this prospective registry-based study, we determined changes in cardiovascular mortality between the 1990s and the early 2010s in 12 European populations by gender, educational level and occupational class. In order to quantify changes in the magnitude of differences in mortality, we calculated both ratio measures of relative inequalities and difference measures of absolute inequalities.

Substituting polyunsaturated fat for saturated fat: A health impact assessment of a fat tax in seven European countries.

There is evidence that replacing saturated fat (SFA) with polyunsaturated fat (PUFA) lowers ischemic heart disease (IHD). In order to improve the population's diet, the World Health Organization has called for the taxation of foods that are high in SFA. We aimed to assess the potential health gains of a European fat tax by applying the SFA intake reduction that has been observed under the Danish fat tax to six other European countries.

Women's excess unhealthy life years: disentangling the unhealthy life years gap.

Background: Compared to men, women live longer but have more years with disability. We assessed the contribution of gender differences in mortality and disability, total and by cause, to women's excess unhealthy life years (ULYs).

Methods: We used mortality data for France 2008 from Eurostat, causes of death from the CépiDc-INSERM-database; and disability and chronic conditions data from the French Disability Health Survey 2008-09.

Fruit and vegetable consumption and its contribution to inequalities in life expectancy and disability-free life expectancy in ten European countries.

Objectives: To assess to what extent educational differences in total life expectancy (TLE) and disability-free life expectancy (DFLE) could be reduced by improving fruit and vegetable consumption in ten European countries.

Methods: Data from national census or registries with mortality follow-up, EU-SILC, and ESS were used in two scenarios to calculate the impact: the upward levelling scenario (exposure in low educated equals exposure in high educated) and the elimination scenario (no exposure in both groups). Results are estimated for men and women between ages 35 and 79 years.