The Relationship between Educational Attainment and Obesity among Korean Adults : Focusing on Age Variations

Abstract

<Abstract> Objectives: Despite the considerable interest in the increase in obesity particularly of socially disadvantaged group in Korea, how obesity varies according to various socio-demographic characteristics still remains largely unanswered. To further develop the understanding of obesity in Korea, the present study focuses on the possibility that the relationship between educational attainment and obesity varies across age. Methods: Using 2010 Korea National Health & Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES), this study divides the adults into male and female groups and examines the interaction effect of age and educational attainment on obesity through binominal logit models for each group. Results: The most educated male group is more likely to be obese than those who did not complete high school. And the relationship between male's educational attainment and obesity does not significantly change across age. In contrast to male's obesity pattern, female educational attainment has a significant negative association with obesity. The gap in obesity across educational groups converges after middle ages in female. Conclusions: Health policies should pay more attention to those who are more vulnerable to obesity risk in order to effectively reduce obesity.

Educational Inequality in Obesity-Related Mortality in Korea

“…Interestingly, the direction of socioeconomic inequality in obesity-related mortality in the present study tends to be inconsistent with the direction of socioeconomic disparity in obesity prevalence. Although a Korean study conducted in a rural area in 2007 showed that the prevalence of obesity was higher in subjects with lower education level for both sexes ( 24 ), most studies in Korea reported that the direction of socioeconomic differential in obesity prevalence differed by sex ( 25 26 27 ). A study using the data from Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) in 2010 reported that obesity prevalence was positively associated with both education level and family income for men, whereas an inverse association was found for women ( 26 ).…”

“…Although we could not examine the hypothesis in the present study, several previous studies have reported supporting evidence. A study in Korean women found that the educational inequality in obesity prevalence was higher in younger people than that in middle agers ( 26 ). A similar pattern was observed in a study in Thailand ( 33 ) and United Sates ( 34 ).…”