Socio economic position, the risk of pre and type 2 diabetes, and implications for prevention

Socioeconomic position Resources, material and others, within virtually all human societies are unequally distributed. The ability of an individual to access resources is strongly related to their position within the social hierarchy of that society. Following the theoretical framework of Weber, the position within the social hierarchy (socioeconomic position) can be seen as being determined by three factors. These factors are class (related to the ownership and control of material resources), status (related to the ability to access cultural, social and knowledge resources) and power within the political context[1]. Commonly used indicators of socioeconomic position include occupation, income and education[1]. Indicators of socioeconomic position are commonly used at an individual, household and neighbourhood level, with the reasons for choosing one level rather than another often being pragmatic, reflecting the availability of data, rather than being driven by theory.