Sitting Time and Obesity or Abdominal Obesity in Older South Koreans: Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2013

ABSTRACT

We examined relationships between sitting time and obesity or abdominal obesity according to sex and socioeconomic status in elderly people. We analyzed data from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2013, and 1565 participants were included in the study. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to examine relationships between sitting time and obesity or abdominal obesity according to sex and socioeconomic status. Sitting time was positively correlated with body mass index in men and women and waist circumference in men. When considering socioeconomic factors, men who sat for 5 hours or longer and fell within the lowest income were more likely to have obesity and abdominal obesity relative to men who sat for 5 hours or shorter and earned higher incomes (odds ratio [95% confidence interval] = 1.80 [1.14–2.84] and 1.63 [1.02–2.61] respectively), and women who sat for 5 hours or longer and fell within the lowest educational level were more likely to have obesity relative to women who sat for 5 hours or less and were educated to a higher level (1.24 [1.01–1.85]). Strategies to reduce sedentary behavior would help to prevent obesity in older men who earn low incomes and women with lower levels of educational attainment.

KEYWORDS:

• abdominal obesity
• elderly
• obesity
• sitting time
• socioeconomic status

Acknowledgments

We wish to thank the study participants for their dedication and there was no funding for this study.