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Background: Obesity is a multifactorial condition influenced by genetics, lifestyle, and environment. Objective: We investigated whether the association of a validated genetic profile risk score for obesity (GPRS-obesity) with body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) was modified by sleep characteristics. Design: This study included cross-sectional data from 119,859 white European adults, aged 37-73 y, participating in the UK Biobank. Interactions of GPRS-obesity and sleep characteristics (sleep duration, chronotype, day napping, and shift work) with their effects on BMI and WC were investigated. Results: β Values are expressed as the change in BMI (in kg/m 2 ) or WC per 1-SD increase in GPRS-obesity. The GPRS-obesity was associated with BMI (β: 0.57; 95% CI: 0.55, 0.60; P = 6.3 × 10 -207 ) and WC (1.21 cm; 95% CI: 1.15, 1.28 cm; P = 4.2 × 10 -289 ). There were significant interactions of GPRS-obesity and a variety of sleep characteristics with their relation with BMI ( P -interaction < 0.05). In participants who slept <7 or >9 h daily, the effect of GPRS-obesity on BMI was stronger (β: 0.60; 95% CI: 0.54, 0.65 and β: 0.73; 95% CI: 0.49, 0.97, respectively) than in normal-length sleepers (7-9 h; β: 0.52; 95% CI: 0.49, 0.55). A similar pattern was observed for shift workers (β: 0.68; 95% CI: 0.59, 0.77 compared with β: 0.54; 95% CI: 0.51, 0.58 for non-shift workers) and for night-shift workers (β: 0.69; 95% CI: 0.56, 0.82 compared with β: 0.55; 95% CI: 0.51, 0.58 for non-night-shift workers), for those taking naps during the day (β: 0.65; 95% CI: 0.52, 0.78 compared with β: 0.51; 95% CI: 0.48, 0.55 for those who never or rarely had naps), and for those with a self-reported evening chronotype (β: 0.72; 95% CI: 0.61, 0.82 compared with β: 0.52; 95% CI: 0.47, 0.57 for morning chronotype). Similar findings were obtained by using WC as the outcome. Conclusion: This study shows that the association between genetic risk for obesity and phenotypic adiposity measures is exacerbated by adverse sleeping characteristics., (© 2017 American Society for Nutrition.)

Objectives: We investigated to what extent current financial distress explains the relationship between life-course socioeconomic position and well-being in Southern, Scandinavian, Postcommunist, and Bismarckian welfare regimes., Methods: We analyzed individuals (n = 18 324) aged 50 to 75 years in the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe, 2006-2009. Well-being was measured with CASP-12 (which stands for control, autonomy, self-realization, and pleasure) and life satisfaction. We generated a life-course socioeconomic index from 8 variables and calculated multilevel regression models (containing individuals nested within 13 countries), as well as stratified single-level models by welfare regime., Results: Life-course socioeconomic advantage was related to higher well-being; the difference in life satisfaction between the most and least advantaged was 2.09 (95% confidence interval = 1.87, 2.31) among women and 1.65 (95% confidence interval = 1.43, 1.87) among men. The weakest associations were found among Scandinavian countries. Financial distress was associated with lower well-being and attenuated the relationship between life-course socioeconomic position and well-being in all regimes (ranging from 34.26% in Postcommunist to 72.22% in Scandinavian countries)., Conclusions: We found narrower inequalities in well-being in the Scandinavian regime. Reducing financial distress may help improve well-being and reduce inequalities.

Background: Whether socioeconomic inequalities in health and well-being persist into old age and are narrower in more generous welfare states is debated. We investigated the magnitude of socioeconomic inequality in the quality of life of Europeans in early old age and the influence of the welfare regime type on these relationships., Methods: Data from individuals aged 50-75 years (n = 16 074) residing in 13 European countries were derived from Waves 2 and 3 of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe. Slope indices of inequality (SIIs) were calculated for the association between socioeconomic position and CASP-12, a measure of positive quality of life. Multilevel linear regression was used to assess the overall relationship between socioeconomic position and quality of life, using interaction terms to investigate the influence of the type of welfare regime (Southern, Scandinavian, Post-communist or Bismarckian)., Results: Socioeconomic inequalities in quality of life were narrowest in the Scandinavian and Bismarckian regimes, and were largest by measures of current wealth. Compared with the Scandinavian welfare regime, where narrow inequalities in quality of life by education level were found in both men (SII = 0.02, 95% CI: -1.09 to 1.13) and women (SII = 1.11, 95% CI: 0.05-2.17), the difference in quality of life between the least and most educated was particularly wide in Southern and Post-communist regimes., Conclusion: Individuals in more generous welfare regimes experienced higher levels of quality of life, as well as narrower socioeconomic inequalities in quality of life., (© The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association.)

Background: whether socioeconomic position over the life course influences the wellbeing of older people similarly in different societies is not known., Objective: to investigate the magnitude of socioeconomic inequalities in life satisfaction among individuals in early old age and the influence of the welfare state regime on the associations., Design: comparative study using data from Wave 2 and SHARELIFE, the retrospective Wave of the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), collected during 2006-07 and 2008-09, respectively., Setting: thirteen European countries representing four welfare regimes (Southern, Scandinavian, Post-communist and Bismarckian)., Subjects: a total of 17,697 individuals aged 50-75 years., Methods: slope indices of inequality (SIIs) were calculated for the association between life course socioeconomic position (measured by the number of books in childhood, education level and current wealth) and life satisfaction. Single level linear regression models stratified by welfare regime and multilevel regression models, containing interaction terms between socioeconomic position and welfare regime type, were calculated., Results: socioeconomic inequalities in life satisfaction were present in all welfare regimes. Educational inequalities in life satisfaction were narrowest in Scandinavian and Bismarckian regimes among both genders. Post-communist and Southern countries experienced both lower life satisfaction and larger socioeconomic inequalities in life satisfaction, using most measures of socioeconomic position. Current wealth was associated with large inequalities in life satisfaction across all regimes., Conclusions: Scandinavian and Bismarckian countries exhibited narrower socioeconomic inequalities in life satisfaction. This suggests that more generous welfare states help to produce a more equitable distribution of wellbeing among older people.