Health inequalities in British men: the impact of socio-economic circumstances at different stages of the life course.

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Health inequalities in the UK remain marked; their reduction is an important public health priority. Health inequalities in the older population have been little studied and the pathways by which socio-economic status affects health remains incompletely understood. The purpose of this research is to investigate whether social gradients in health decline or widen with age and to examine the importance of socio-economic factors operating at different stages of the life course and at individual and area level. It will also seek to define the pathways by which socio-economic status affects health. The research will use a large and established British cohort study with a wide range of information on socio-economic and lifestyle factors and biological measures obtained at several time points. Understanding the relative importance of social factors operating at different stages of life, the relative importance of individual and area factors and the importance of health behaviours and biological risk markers in the development of social variations in health, will help to define public health strategies to reduce socio-economic inequalities in health in the future.