Socioeconomic Disparities in Health in the United States: What the Patterns Tell Us

We aimed to describe socioeconomic disparities in the United States across multiple health indicators and socioeconomic groups.

Using recent national data on 5 child (infant mortality, health status, activity limitation, healthy eating, sedentary adolescents) and 6 adult (life expectancy, health status, activity limitation, heart disease, diabetes, obesity) health indicators, we examined indicator rates across multiple income or education categories, overall and within racial/ethnic groups.