Associations Between Macrolevel Economic Factors and Weight Distributions in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

A Multilevel Analysis of 200 000 Adults in 40 Countries

Bibliographic Data

ID11037296
AuthorsArijit Nandi (0000-0002-3399-0536, Arijit Nandi and Jody Heymann are with the Institute for Health and Social Policy and the Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Occupational Health, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec. Elizabeth Sweet is with the Center on Social Disparities and Health, Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL. Ichiro Kawachi is with the Department of Society, Human Development, and Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA. Sandro Galea is with the Department of...), Elizabeth Sweet (0000-0002-9188-6649, Arijit Nandi and Jody Heymann are with the Institute for Health and Social Policy and the Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Occupational Health, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec. Elizabeth Sweet is with the Center on Social Disparities and Health, Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL. Ichiro Kawachi is with the Department of Society, Human Development, and Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA. Sandro Galea is with the Department of...), Ichiro Kawachi (0000-0003-3579-4456, Arijit Nandi and Jody Heymann are with the Institute for Health and Social Policy and the Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Occupational Health, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec. Elizabeth Sweet is with the Center on Social Disparities and Health, Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL. Ichiro Kawachi is with the Department of Society, Human Development, and Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA. Sandro Galea is with the Department of...), Jody Heymann (0000-0003-0008-4198, Arijit Nandi and Jody Heymann are with the Institute for Health and Social Policy and the Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Occupational Health, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec. Elizabeth Sweet is with the Center on Social Disparities and Health, Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL. Ichiro Kawachi is with the Department of Society, Human Development, and Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA. Sandro Galea is with the Department of...), Sandro Galea (0000-0002-7534-0945, Arijit Nandi and Jody Heymann are with the Institute for Health and Social Policy and the Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Occupational Health, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec. Elizabeth Sweet is with the Center on Social Disparities and Health, Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL. Ichiro Kawachi is with the Department of Society, Human Development, and Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA. Sandro Galea is with the Department of...)
Year2014
Volume104
Issue2
Pagese162-e171
Publication date2014-02-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Public Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0090-0036 • E-ISSN: 1541-0048
PublisherAmerican Public Health Association (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.2105/ajph.2013.301392
PMID24228649
OpenAlexW2117480209
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited53

Objectives. We examined associations between macrolevel economic factors hypothesized to drive changes in distributions of weight and body mass index (BMI) in a representative sample of 200 796 men and women from 40 low- and middle-income countries. Methods. We used meta-regressions to describe ecological associations between macrolevel factors and mean BMIs across countries. Multilevel regression was used to assess the relation between macrolevel economic characteristics and individual odds of underweight and overweight relative to normal weight. Results. In multilevel analyses adjusting for individual-level characteristics, a 1–standard-deviation increase in trade liberalization was associated with 13% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.76, 0.99), 17% (95% CI = 0.71, 0.96), 13% (95% CI = 0.76, 1.00), and 14% (95% CI = 0.75, 0.99) lower odds of underweight relative to normal weight among rural men, rural women, urban men, and urban women, respectively. Economic development was consistently associated with higher odds of overweight relative to normal weight. Among rural men, a 1–standard-deviation increase in foreign direct investment was associated with 17% (95% CI = 1.02, 1.35) higher odds of overweight relative to normal weight. Conclusions. Macrolevel economic factors may be implicated in global shifts in epidemiological patterns of weight

Body mass index · Confidence interval · Environmental health · Logistic regression · Obesity · Odds · Odds ratio · Overweight · Underweight · Demography · Health disparities and outcomes · Internal Medicine · Medicine · Nutritional Studies and Diet · Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet

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Open DOISci-HubOpen Access