Are Women's Empowerment and Income Inequality Associated with Excess Weight in Latin American Cities?

While income gradients and gender inequalities in excess weight have been noted elsewhere, data from Latin American cities is lacking. We analyzed gender-specific associations between city-level women's empowerment and income inequality with individual-level overweight/obesity, assessing how these associations vary by individual education or living conditions within cities in Latin America. Data came from national surveys and censuses, and was compiled by the SALURBAL project (Urban Health in Latin America). The sample included 79,422 individuals (58.0% women), living in 538 sub-cities, 187 cities, and 8 countries. We used gender-stratified Poisson multilevel models to estimate the Prevalence Rate Ratios (PRR) for overweight/obesity (body mass index ≥ 25 kg/m2) per a unit change in city-level women's empowerment (proxied by a score that measures gender inequalities in employment and education) and income inequality (proxied by income-based Gini coefficient). We also tested whether individual education or sub-city living conditions modified such associations. Higher city labor women's empowerment (in women) and higher city Gini coefficient (in men) were associated with a lower prevalence of overweight/obesity (PRR = 0.97 (95%CI 0.94, 0.99) and PRR = 0.94 (95%CI 0.90, 0.97), respectively). The associations varied by individual education and sub-city living conditions. For labor women's empowerment, we observed weakened associations towards the null effect in women with lower education and in residents of sub-cities with worse living conditions (men and women). For the Gini coefficient, the association was stronger among men with primary education, and a negative association was observed in women with primary education. Our findings highlight the need for promoting equity-based policies and interventions to tackle the high prevalence of excess weight in Latin American cities.

[The role of medicine in a lawsuit on the adulteration of tobacco under the old regime (Burgos 1667)]. / Papel de la medicina en un proceso por adulteración del tabaco bajo el antiguo régimen (Burgos 1667).

This article studies a court case on the adulteration of tobacco in Burgos in 1667. The expert work done by physicians and apothecaries throughout this trial plays a central role. The evolution of this judicial process is described in detail, and additional information is provided on the organisation of the tobacconist's, the preparation of tobaccos, the spectres associated with the adulteration of tobacco and the administration of justice under the old regime. In a second phase, the "experiences" performed by professionals and the methods of analysis on which their ideas are based are studied, relating the irregular scientific performance to the position occupied in the field of health professionals in Burgos at that time. Finally, based on what has been observed, speculations are made on the shift in control of the adulteration, from the municipal ambit in the early Middle Ages to its integration into the Crown institutions and its relationship with the promotion of physicians and pharmacists as experts in the subject.