The way individuals perceive the state of their health has been found to be a predictor of longevity. Still, very little is known about the role played by genetic and environmental factors on how men and women evaluate their health status at different stages of their life course. Franz et al. (2017) start to fill this gap by using IGEMS data, an international consortium of nine existing longitudinal twin and family studies in Denmark, Sweden, and the US. The sample used included more than 12,000 adult twins ranging from 30- to 85-years-old.

To better understand increasing inequalities in mortality trends, Rianne de Gelder and colleagues took a long-term approach. Using data from 1970-2010, they explored both absolute and relative inequalities in mortality based on level of education and occupational class. They did so by comparing six countries: England and Wales, Finland, France, Hungary, Italy (Turin) and Norway.

Obesity levels have increased remarkably over the last thirty years throughout the globe. At the same time, there are considerable variations in the proportion of overweight adults across countries. So what are the factors behind this global divergence? Is economic development one of the drivers of such differences?

El estado de salud se distribuye de manera muy desigual en la sociedad, lo que significa que las personas con menores niveles de educación, ocupación o ingresos, tienden a tener unas tasas de morbilidad y mortalidad sistemáticamente superiores. No cabe duda de que dichas desigualdades en materia de salud producen costes económicos, pero ¿cuál es su magnitud? El equipo liderado por Johan Mackenbach, de la Universidad Erasmo de Róterdam, presenta los primeros datos para la Unión Europea.