Obesity and its associations with hypertension and type 2 diabetes among Chinese adults age 40 years and over
Received 26 September 2008; accepted 8 April 2009. published online 10 July 2009.
Abstract
Aim
To investigate the prevalence of obesity in a Chinese community according to the World Health Organization recommended criteria for Asians in 2000 based on body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC), and to examine the associations between obesity and the risk of hypertension and type 2 diabetes among adults age 40 years and over in Shanghai, China.
Methods
A population-based survey was conducted in Youyi Community in Shanghai. Five thousand seventy-one subjects (1917 men and 3154 women) were included in this study. Standard questionnaires were used to collect baseline data of participants. Body weight, height, WC, blood pressure, and glucose in the blood were measured.
Results
The prevalence of general obesity was 44.6% (46.4% for men and 43.6% for women) according to BMI and 36.1% (25.5% for men and 42.6% for women) for central obesity according to WC. The prevalence of obesity I was higher in men (41.6%) than in women (36.2%; χ2 =14.8, P<0.05), although the rate was higher in women than in men for obesity II (7.4% versus 4.8%, χ2 =13.6, P<0.01) or central obesity (42.6% versus 25.5%, χ2 =152.1, P<0.01). Odds ratios of hypertension and type 2 diabetes were significantly higher in the obesity group compared with either the group with BMI 18.5–<23.0kg/m2 or the group with WC<90cm for men or <80cm for women.
Conclusions
According to the criteria of obesity for Asians, the prevalence of obesity among Chinese adults age 40 years and over in Shanghai is high. Subjects with obesity have a significantly higher risk of hypertension and type 2 diabetes.
aSchool of Public Health, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
bDepartment of Public Health Sciences, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
cBaoshan District Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shanghai, China
dShanghai Municipal Center of Disease Control and Prevention, Shanghai, China
eShanghai Clinical Center for Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, Shanghai Institute of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, Ruijin Hospital affiliated to School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
This study was supported by funds from Shanghai Science and Technology Commission (04DZ19502), (07DJ14005), Natural Science Foundation of School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University (06XJ21202), Shanghai, China.
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