Results: Bridging social capital had increased significantly, but in a pattern determined by type of social capital, gender, educational level and ethnicity. Bridging social participation had increased among men, individuals born in Sweden and the low educated. Bridging trust on the other hand, increased among women, individuals born outside Sweden and the high educated. Selfrated health did not change in any group between baseline and follow-up. However, mental health improved significantly among individuals born outside Sweden. This seemed to be mediated by social capital components. Conclusion: Following the community-based intervention, bridging social capital increased among inhabitants who lived in the area for the whole three-year period in a pattern determined by gender, level of education and ethnicity. Mental health improved among individuals born outside Sweden, which may have been mediated by improvement of bridging social capital. Depression and obesity are the among the most common health problems globally and may share common social determinants. Social integration is suggested to protect adults from ill health; this study examines whether the protective effect of social integration is seen longitudinally and is present in the case of the cooccurrence of depression and central obesity. We used 3 sweeps of a prospective cohort study, the National Child Development Study, when the participants were aged 33, 42, and 45 (Men =3,043, Women=3,153). Co-occurrence of depression and central obesity was assessed at age 45, by the presence or absence of depression (scores over 2 on the depression subscale of the Clinical Interview Schedule) and central obesity (a waist to hip ratio greater or equal to 0.9 for men, 0.85 for women). Social integration was assessed at age 42 using information about cohabitation, employment status, and frequency of attendance at religious or socially organised groups. Psychological health, longstanding illness, and social position assessed at age 33 are treated as confounders and men and women were analysed separately. Findings using multinomial logistic regression showed the significance of employment as the key protective element of social integration among middle aged adults. Working full time at age 42 was less likely to be associated with depression at age 45 even along with central obesity, but not with central obesity alone. This effect was independent of the effects from the confounders and greater among men (Depression: OR=0.15, 95% CI=0.07-0.32; Comorbdity: OR=0.25, 95%CI=0.14-0.45). Although considered a confounder rather than an explanatory variable, it is worth noting that psychological ill health at age 33 was linked to depression at age 45 in men and women; however, the degree of the association is greater when central obesity is present, confirming the complex mechanism of co-occurrence of depression and central obesity. It appears employment, may protect middle aged adults against comorbid depression and central obesity through its relationship with depression. The four HOPE Projects build on over 16 years of community based research projects with low income women in rural counties in North Carolina. The Community-based participatory research process led us to develop interventions to address women's health within the context of the economic and social circumstances of their lives: poverty, unemployment, racism and lack of access to resources. HOPE (Health, Opportunities, Partnerships, Empowerment) Works (2004) (2005) (2006) (2007) (2008) (2009) ) was a successful obesity prevention intervention that drew upon development strategies including loan circles, microenterprise development, and American Indian talking circles. Community women were trained to organize and facilitate HOPE Circles of 8-12 women from their social networks. Circles met twice a month for 6 months: women set goals and supported each other to make health and social/economic improvements. Threads of HOPE (www.threadsofhopenc.org) is a spinoff from HOPE Works: it is a small business that produces sustainable conference bags, and a non-profit whose mission is to train low income women in business development and financial literacy. Seeds of HOPE (2009-2014) will disseminate the HOPE Works model through American Indian and African American churches and community health clinics. It will have a stronger emphasis on microenterprise development and financial literacy. HOPE Accounts for Women (2009) (2010) (2011) is funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act through the National Institutes of Health. This innovative program uses the HOPE Works model but enhances the economic empowerment/financial literacy training by assisting low income women in saving money for starting a business or furthering education through a matched savings incentive. Data from the first 3 cohorts (159 Intervention, 118 Comparison) in the HOPE Works study show that 75% of women were African American and most were low income: outcome analysis demonstrated that HOPE Circle participants lowered BMI more than the comparison group with average weight loss difference of 4 pounds. Intervention women also increased hope, physical activity and fruit and vegetable intake. Introduction: It has been well documented that socioeconomicallydisadvantaged groups are more likely to be overweight/obese than their more-advantaged counterparts (this trend is seen more consistently among women). These differences may be due (in part) to socioeconomic differences in weight-control behaviors. Methods: Data was obtained from 1012 men and women aged 45 to 60 years residing in Brisbane, Australia (69.6% response rate). Data were collected by a postal questionnaire, which provided information on past and current weight-control behaviors. Socioeconomic position was characterised by highest attained education, household income and occupation. Results: Socioeconomically-disadvantaged participants were less likely to report engaging in weight-control in the past 12 months. Those with secondary school or lower education (OR=0.58, 95% C.I. 0.41-0.82), working in a blue-collar profession (OR= 0.36, 95% C.I 0.22-0.60), not in the work force (OR=0.62, 95% C.I. 0.41-0.94), or who belonged in the 1st quartile of equivalised household income (OR=0.64, 95% C.I. 0.41-0.98) were less likely to report trying to lose weight and/or avoid weight gain in the past 12 months. There were no significant differences between socioeconomic groups in engaging in potentially health-promoting or health-damaging weight-control behaviors. Conclusion: Socioeconomic differences in weight status may be due to differences in engaging in weight-control behaviors. However among those who do wish to maintain or lose weight, there are no socioeconomic differences in the nature of the strategies they employ. Background: Previous studies may have underestimated the contribution of unhealthy behaviours to social inequalities in mortality because of the assessment of health behaviours at only one point in time, resulting in a failure to capture long-term exposure.