Socioeconomic and Structural Barriers to Addressing Obesity in Communities: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association

Abstract

The obesity epidemic continues largely unabated, affecting more than one-third of the US population and disproportionately burdening individuals from socioeconomically disadvantaged populations. Numerous factors contribute to the high prevalence of obesity, including socioeconomic and structural barriers impeding primordial and primary prevention efforts. Despite broad recognition that social determinants of health are key drivers of obesity, the importance of socioeconomic and structural factors as contemporary barriers to individual-, community-, and population-level obesity prevention and intervention efforts remains underappreciated. This scientific statement highlights multilevel barriers to obesity prevention and management, with an emphasis on social determinants of health, societal culture, and shared biases that may interfere with the success of healthy weight management programs. The assessment includes a comprehensive review of policy and community-level strategies used to address the obesity epidemic and identifies key areas for future research.