ObjectiveTo examine socio-economic differences in weight-control behaviours (WCB) and barriers to weight control.DesignA cross-sectional study.SettingData were obtained by means of a postal questionnaire.SubjectsA total of 1013 men and women aged 45a€“60 years residing in Brisbane, Australia (69?·8 % response rate).ResultsBinary and multinomial logistic regression analyses were performed, adjusted for age, gender and BMI. Socio-economically disadvantaged groups were less likely to engage in weight control (OR for lowest income quartile = 0?·60, 95 % CI 0?·39, 0?·94); among those who engaged in weight control, the disadvantaged group had a likelihood of 0?·52 (95 % CI 0?·30, 0?·90) of adopting exercise strategies, including moderate (OR = 0?·56, 95 % CI 0?·33, 0?·96) and vigorous (OR = 0?·47, 95 % CI 0?·25, 0?·89) physical activities, compared with their more-advantaged counterparts. However, lower socio-economic groups were more likely to decrease their sitting time to control their weight compared with their advantaged counterparts (OR for secondary school or lower education = 1?·78, 95 % CI 1?·11, 2?·84). They were also more likely to believe that losing weight was expensive, not of high priority, required a lot of cooking skills and involved eating differently from others in the household.ConclusionsMarked socio-economic inequalities existed with regard to engaging in WCB, the type of weight-control strategies used and the perceived barriers to weight control; these differences are consistent with socio-economic gradients in weight status. These factors may need to be included in health promotion strategies that address socio-economic inequalities in weight status, as well as inequalities in weight-related health outcomes.
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