Obesity Prevalence and Associated Socio-Demographic Characteristics and Health Behaviors in Russia and Norway

Kamila Kholmatova, Alexandra Krettek, David A. Leon, Sofia Malyutina, Sarah Cook, Laila A. Hopstock, Ola Løvsletten and Alexander V. Kudryavtsev
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Kamila Kholmatova: Department of Community Medicine, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, N-9037 Tromsø, Norway
Alexandra Krettek: Department of Community Medicine, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, N-9037 Tromsø, Norway
David A. Leon: Department of Community Medicine, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, N-9037 Tromsø, Norway
Sofia Malyutina: Research Institute of Internal and Preventive Medicine, Branch of Institute of Cytology and Genetics, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Academician M.A. Lavrentiev Av., 17, 630090 Novosibirsk, Russia
Sarah Cook: Faculty of Epidemiology and Population Health, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London WC1E 7HT, UK
Laila A. Hopstock: Department of Community Medicine, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, N-9037 Tromsø, Norway
Ola Løvsletten: Department of Community Medicine, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, N-9037 Tromsø, Norway
Alexander V. Kudryavtsev: Department of Community Medicine, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, N-9037 Tromsø, Norway

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 15, 1-21

Abstract: Associations between obesity and socio-demographic and behavioral characteristics vary between populations. Exploring such differences should throw light on factors related to obesity. We examined associations between general obesity (GO, defined by body mass index) and abdominal obesity (AO, defined by waist-to-hip ratio) and sex, age, socio-economic characteristics (education, financial situation, marital status), smoking and alcohol consumption in women and men aged 40–69 years from the Know Your Heart study (KYH, Russia, N = 4121, 2015–2018) and the seventh Tromsø Study (Tromsø7, Norway, N = 17,646, 2015–2016). Age-standardized prevalence of GO and AO was higher in KYH compared to Tromsø7 women (36.7 vs. 22.0% and 44.2 vs. 18.4%, respectively) and similar among men (26.0 vs. 25.7% and 74.8 vs. 72.2%, respectively). The positive association of age with GO and AO was stronger in KYH vs. Tromsø7 women and for AO it was stronger in men in Tromsø7 vs. KYH. Associations between GO and socio-economic characteristics were similar in KYH and Tromsø7, except for a stronger association with living with spouse/partner in KYH men. Smoking had a positive association with AO in men in Tromsø7 and in women in both studies. Frequent drinking was negatively associated with GO and AO in Tromsø7 participants and positively associated with GO in KYH men. We found similar obesity prevalence in Russian and Norwegian men but higher obesity prevalence in Russian compared to Norwegian women. Other results suggest that the stronger association of obesity with age in Russian women is the major driver of the higher obesity prevalence among them compared to women in Norway.

Keywords: obesity; waist-to-hip ratio; cross-sectional study; socio-demographic factors; smoking; alcohol; sex; Russia; Norway (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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