Global and national socioeconomic disparities in obesity,overweight,and underweight status

Objective. to examine the association between socioeconomic factors and weight status across 53 countries. methods. data are cross-sectional and from the long version of the world health survey (whs). there were 172,625 whs participants who provided self-reported height and weight measures and sociodemographic information. the international classification of adult weight status was used to classify participants by body mass index (bmi): (1) underweight (<18.5),(2) normal weight (18.5-24.9),(3) overweight (25.0-29.9),and (4) obese (>30.0). multinomial regression was used in the analyses. results. globally,6.7% was underweight,25.7% overweight,and 8.9% obese. underweight status was least (5.8%) and obesity (9.3%) most prevalent in the richest quintile. there was variability between countries,with a tendency for lower-income quintiles to be at increased risk for underweight and reduced risk for obesity. conclusion. international policies may require flexibility in addressing cross-national differences in the socio-economic covariates of bmi status. copyright © 2010 spencer moore et al.