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The socio-economic inequality in body mass index: A PERSIAN cohort-based cross-sectional study on 20,000 Iranian adults

Pourfarzi, Farhad; Rezaei, Satar; Zahirian Moghadam, Telma; Zandian, Hamed; Dibazar, Foad

The socio-economic inequality in body mass index: A PERSIAN cohort-based cross-sectional study on 20,000 Iranian adults Thumbnail


Authors

Farhad Pourfarzi

Satar Rezaei

Telma Zahirian Moghadam

Hamed Zandian

Foad Dibazar



Abstract

Introduction: The aim of the present study was to explore and determine the association between BMI and socio-economic factors in Iran. Methods: Adults aged 35 to 70 (n = 20,460) were included from Ardabil Non-Communicable Disease (ArNCD) cohort study. BMI was calculated as kg/m2. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was used to determine the socio-economic quintiles. Multivariate linear regression was performed to analyze the association of BMI as dependent variable with explanatory variables, Additionally, decomposition analyzing conducted to identify factors that explained wealth-related inequality in obesity. Results: The prevalence of overweight and obese people was 83.7% (41.4% overweight and 42.5% obese) wherein the highest frequency of obese people belonged to the age group of 45 to 49 years old (19.9%) and to the illiterate people (33.1%). The results of multivariate linear regression model showed that age, being female, marriage, lower education level, having chronic disease, alcohol use, and higher socioeconomic level positively associated with obesity. The results of the decomposition model showed that the most important variables affecting socioeconomic inequality in higher BMI level were socioeconomic status (75.8%), being women (5.6%), education level (− 4.1%), and having chronic disease (2.4%). Conclusion: BMI showed significant association with socio-economic status, where richest people had significantly higher BMI than poorest group. Considering the direct role of high BMI in non-communicable diseases, new policies are needed to be developed and implemented by means of diet intervention and increased physical activity to control the BMI in the population of Iran.

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jul 11, 2022
Online Publication Date Jul 15, 2022
Publication Date Dec 1, 2022
Deposit Date May 6, 2023
Publicly Available Date May 9, 2023
Journal BMC Endocrine Disorders
Electronic ISSN 1472-6823
Publisher BioMed Central
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 22
Issue 1
Article Number 178
DOI https://doi.org/10.1186/s12902-022-01096-2
Keywords Body mass index; BMI; Socio-economic status; SES; Inequality; Obesity; Decomposing
Public URL https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/10756861
Publisher URL https://bmcendocrdisord.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12902-022-01096-2

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