A study on whether economic development and urbanization of areas are associated with prevalence of obesity in Chinese adults: Findings from 2009 China health and nutrition surveys

Abstract

China's economy has experienced rapid development in the past 20 years. In 2010, China's GDP was valued at $5.87 trillion, surpassing Japan's $5.47 trillion, and the nation became the world's second largest economy after the USA. People's incomes are also rapidly rising in all parts of the country. However, along with the prosperity seems to have come a malady that is the modern world's woe: obesity. In China, the prevalence of obesity has increased dramatically. Obesity and its related diseases lay a heavy burden on medical expenditure and constrain economic development. Therefore, it is urgent and imperative to identify those influencing factors related to obesity, and take some measures andmake corresponding, appropriate policies to control its prevalence. The objective of this study is to identify the impact factors of obesity from different levels, and to evaluate whether the relationship between urbanization and obesity can be explained by individual socio-demographic, socioeconomic factors and lifestyle habits. Three-level logistic models are used in this paper to evaluate the relationship between each indicator and obesity. © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014.