Abstract
Background: Social changes and economic development are associated with obesity epidemic. This study is to investigate the trends of socio-economic disparity in obesity from 2002 to 2010 in a Chinese population experiencing the world's fastest economic development.
Methods: Four standardized surveys were conducted in a population of 85 million residents in Guangdong, China between 2002 and 2010. Multistage random cluster sampling was used to recruit representative samples. Information on socio-economic status (SES), proxied by education, occupation and residential area, was collected by face-to-face interviews. The weight, height and waist circumference of the participants were also measured.
Results: Women with low education had an increased BMI of 0.85 kg/m2, while women with high education had a decreased BMI of 0.16 kg/m2 (p = 0.032 for interaction test). Similar trends were observed by using occupation and residential area as the SES indicators. Analysis in men yielded similar patterns. Waist circumference increased from 73.7 to 78.4 cm, and the increasing trends of statistical significance (p < 0.01) were observed in both genders and across all SES levels, with the magnitudes of increase in low SES levels being more pronounced. The impact of gradient in food attainment and occupational physical activity across the SES levels may wear off with further economic development, while factors such as health awareness, diet pattern and leisure activity may become increasingly important in driving the disparity.
Conclusion: The impact of gradient in food attainment and occupational physical activity across the SES levels may wear off with further economic development, while factors such as health awareness, diet pattern and leisure activity may become increasingly important in driving the disparity. Our findings suggest that health education should focus on the disadvantaged populations on health awareness for adopting healthier diet pattern and increasing physical activity.
Methods: Four standardized surveys were conducted in a population of 85 million residents in Guangdong, China between 2002 and 2010. Multistage random cluster sampling was used to recruit representative samples. Information on socio-economic status (SES), proxied by education, occupation and residential area, was collected by face-to-face interviews. The weight, height and waist circumference of the participants were also measured.
Results: Women with low education had an increased BMI of 0.85 kg/m2, while women with high education had a decreased BMI of 0.16 kg/m2 (p = 0.032 for interaction test). Similar trends were observed by using occupation and residential area as the SES indicators. Analysis in men yielded similar patterns. Waist circumference increased from 73.7 to 78.4 cm, and the increasing trends of statistical significance (p < 0.01) were observed in both genders and across all SES levels, with the magnitudes of increase in low SES levels being more pronounced. The impact of gradient in food attainment and occupational physical activity across the SES levels may wear off with further economic development, while factors such as health awareness, diet pattern and leisure activity may become increasingly important in driving the disparity.
Conclusion: The impact of gradient in food attainment and occupational physical activity across the SES levels may wear off with further economic development, while factors such as health awareness, diet pattern and leisure activity may become increasingly important in driving the disparity. Our findings suggest that health education should focus on the disadvantaged populations on health awareness for adopting healthier diet pattern and increasing physical activity.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 1282 |
| Journal | BMC Public Health |
| Volume | 15 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Online published | 23 Dec 2015 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2015 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Funding
These surveys were supported by Guangdong Science and Technology Fund (grant number: 2002 C32709), Guangzhou, China; the China Ministry of Health Special Fund (grant number: 2001DEA30035), Beijing, China; the China Ministry of Science and Technology Key Research Fund (grant number: 2003DIA6N008), Beijing, China;. National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number: 81373081) and the Ministry of Finance of the People’s Republic of China, Beijing, China. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish or preparation of the manuscript.
Research Keywords
- Chinese
- Economic development
- Obesity
- Social inequality
- Socio-economic status (SES)
Publisher's Copyright Statement
- This full text is made available under CC-BY 4.0. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
