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Education can be used as an indicator of socioeconomic positions and also as an indicator of future health patterns. Educational attainment can be measured as the highest level of education that an individual has completed. Literacy is defined by the ability to read and write, and the average number of years spent in school (duration of each level of education). This chapter will focus on the educational factors that are related to the obesity trend.

The prevalence of obesity is known to vary according to socioculture factors. Additionally, patterns can be specific to race, age, and gender with relationships observed in developed countries. Culture is defined as a social construct, an idea created and accepted by society formed by norms, values, and beliefs; culture is usually taught and passed down from one generation to the next. Ethnicity is a form of cultural identity where a social group belongs to a common culture. Race, on the other hand, is commonly mistaken with ethnicity but is in fact biologically based and needs a more universal definition to be used in the medical literature. The US Census Bureau categorizes race as American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Black or African American, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, and White. Ethnicity is categorized as Hispanic or Latino (a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race) and not Hispanic or Latino.