Inequalities in weight management practices: A qualitative study of Finnish retirees

Background

Socioeconomic inequalities in weight management and obesity shown in quantitative research remain a major public health challenge. Yet qualitative insights into how weight management is shaped in everyday life in retirement across different socioeconomic groups are limited. This study examines how retirees’ everyday weight management practices are assembled and how they vary by educational level, body mass index (BMI) and gender.

Methods

This qualitative study is part of the Helsinki Health Study. Participants (n = 40) were selected from retired employees of the City of Helsinki, with equal representation by educational level (low/high), BMI (with obesity ≥30 kg/m²; without obesity <30 kg/m²) and gender (women/men). Thematic interviews on lifestyle habits were conducted in 2023 and analysed using theory-informed qualitative content analysis, with attention to variation across educational, BMI and gender groups.

Results

Weight management was formed through interconnected everyday practices: eating, physical activity, monitoring, recovery and support. Practices were largely similar across groups but organised differently, from routinised and constrained to emotionally driven and socially structured forms. These were shaped by social relationships, lived experiences, health and access to support and resources. Participants with low education described constrained material conditions and limited access to support, but resources did not consistently align with educational level. Differences by BMI were shown in how weight management was experienced, practised and described. Participants with obesity framed their practices as effortful, while those without obesity did not recognise their routines as weight management.

Conclusions

Weight management reflects differences in the circumstances and constraints of everyday life rather than in practices themselves. Addressing these conditions is key to improving health equity and public health in ageing populations.

Key messages

• Inequalities in weight management practices reflect differences in social relationships, material and psychosocial resources, and access to support and health and social services.

• Public health policies and health promotion for retirees should address the social, material and health-related conditions shaping everyday practices and ensure support across diverse life situations.