The correlation between educational levels and central obesity in the north of Iran: An epidemiologic study

BACKGROUND: The main aim of this study was to evaluate the association between educational levels and central obesity in northern Iran in ۲۰۱۰. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study carried out on ۲۴۲۸ subjects (۱۲۲۷ men and ۱۲۰۱ women) of ۱۵-۶۵ years of age who were chosen by cluster and stratified sampling methods. Subjects were randomly selected from ۱۲۵ clusters and each cluster included ۲۰ cases. Interviewers recorded the data using a multidimensional questionnaire comprising socio-demographic indexes. RESULTS: Central obesity was seen in ۳۴.۸% of all subjects (۱۵.۹% male and ۵۶.۷% female) and in ۱۵% of uneducated people. In the uneducated group, it was ۲۰.۰% and ۳۱.۱% higher than in the ۱-۹ years of schooling and high school or college educated groups, respectively (P = ۰.۰۰۱). The risk of central obesity increased in uneducated people (OR = ۴.۲۱۴, P = ۰.۰۰۱) and in people with ۱-۹ years of schooling (OR = ۲.۲۸۳, P = ۰.۰۰۱) compared with high school or college educated people. The risk of central obesity was higher in urban areas than in rural area (OR = ۱.۴۸۱, P = ۰.۰۰۱), in women than men (OR = ۷.۰۳۹, P = ۰.۰۰۱), in ۴۰-۶۵ year olds than ۱۵-۴۰ year olds (OR = ۳.۰۹۰, P = ۰.۰۰۱), and in the wealthy economic group than poor economic group (OR = ۱.۳۶۰, P = ۰.۰۱۳). The risk of central obesity increased in urban areas (OR = ۲.۲۶۶, P = ۰.۰۰۱) and the wealthy economic group (OR = ۱.۷۳۲, P = ۰.۰۰۱) after it was adjusted for education. CONCLUSION: Central obesity as a health problem in northern Iran has been supported in this study, and it had an inverse correlation with educational levels. Public health programs that aim to reduce central obesity should mainly focus on the illiterate and low educated people.   Keywords: Education, Northern Iran, Adults, Central Obesity