Obesity, lifestyle behaviors and dyslipidemia among Chinese adults aged 45 and older

Abstract

BackgroundThis study investigated the importance of obesity and lifestyle behaviors in affecting dyslipidemia among adults aged 45 and older in China. The strength of our study is in using the decision tree model to clearly rank the importance of those key factors affecting dyslipidemia. MethodsData were taken from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study. A total of 9,038 adults were included in the study. Logistic regression was used to examine the associations between obesity, lifestyle behaviors and dyslipidemia. Decision tree was built to select the best scheme on prevention of dyslipidemia. ResultsBased on body mass index (BMI), 33.98% of Chinese age ≥ 45 years old were overweight and a further 12.73% were obese. Logistic regression analysis showed that participants who were obese (AOR 6.82, 95% CI 3.67-12.37, P<0.0001), with hypertension stage 2 (1.53, 1.23-1.90, P=0.0001) and lived in main city zone (2.68, 2.22-3.22, P<0.0001) were more likely to have dyslipidemia; Participants who usually took part in vigorous activity (0.66, 0.54-0.80, P<0.0001) or did moderate/light activity more than 2 hours one day (moderate: 0.66, 0.53-0.84, P=0.0005; light: 0.79, 0.65-0.97, P=0.0231) were less likely to have dyslipidemia. Decision tree analysis showed that enhancing physical activity could effectively reduce the rate of dyslipidemia among people with overweight or obesity. Conclusions 4Overweight and obesity are rapidly growing threats in China. Regular physical activity could positively affect dyslipidemia and produce desirable health status. This will be beneficial evidence for educating those who do not or cannot perform regular and substantial physical activities.