This paper assesses individual and social environment determinants of obesity in the adult Mexican population based on socioeconomic position, rural residence, and areal deprivation. Using a nationally representative health and nutrition survey, this analysis considers individual and structural determinants of obesity from a socioeconomic position and health disparities conceptual framework using multilevel logistic regression models. We find that more than thirty percent of Mexican adults were obese in 2006 and that the odds of being obese were strongly associated with an individual's socioeconomic position, gender, place of residence, and the level of marginalization (areal deprivation) in the place of residence. Surprisingly, areas of the country where areal deprivation was highest had lower risks of individual obesity outcomes. We suggest that programs oriented towards addressing the health benefits of traditional food systems over high-energy dense refined foods and sugary beverages be promoted as part of a public health program aimed at curbing the rising obesity prevalence in Mexico. 1. Introduction Major improvements in health and economic well-being have occurred over the past several decades in Mexico. However health care expenditures and resources are lower, and major health indicators, such as life expectancy and infant mortality rates, are higher in Mexico compared to other OECD countries [1]. Additionally, obesity prevalence rates are high and increasing in Mexico [2–5], with approximately 30 percent of the adult population obese [6]; only the US has a higher adult obesity rate than Mexico of all OECD countries [1]. Other studies estimate obesity prevalence to be as high as 50 percent of the population [7], and almost 70 percent of the adult Mexican population is either obese or overweight [6, 8]. Similar obesity prevalence rates have been observed between poor rural and urban adults in Mexico [9]; however gender differences have been noted for overweight and obesity prevalence for Mexican adults indicating a female overweight/obesity disadvantage [6, 7, 10]. The rise in obesity prevalence presents new implications for the health care needs of the Mexican population and longer-term chronic health problems, like diabetes and hypertension [8, 11], for a low-income country with high levels of inequality in economic, social service, and health resources [1]. Differences in economic resources, social services, physical infrastructure, health care services, and food environments exist across regions of Mexico [12–14], with noticeable differences
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