title: Patterns of body weight in the Baltic Republics.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Previously recorded rates of obesity in the Baltic Republics have been among the highest in the world although little is known about how they vary within the population. This study investigates the distribution of body mass index (BMI) and obesity in these countries.
  
  
  METHODS
  Three cross-sectional surveys conducted in the summer of 1997.
  
  
  METHODS
  Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
  
  
  METHODS
  Representative national samples of adults with measured weight and height (Estonia: n=1154; Latvia: n=2292; Lithuania: n=2096).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Between-country differences are particularly large among women: women from Latvia and Lithuania are approximately three times as likely to be obese as those from Estonia (17.4%, 18.3%, 6.0% respectively); only about one-third of this difference is explained by the sociodemographic and behavioural factors studied. In men, the prevalence of obesity varied only slightly among countries (Estonia: 9.9%; Latvia: 9.5%; Lithuania: 11.4%). While the prevalence of obesity increases with age within each republic, particularly in women, it is not associated with nationality or urban/rural region, and no consistent association is observed with income. Obesity is inversely related to education in Latvia and in Lithuanian women. Latvian men and women and Lithuanian men who smoked had a lower prevalence of obesity than non-smokers. Leisure time physical activity was not associated with obesity.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Obesity is a major health problem in the Baltic Republics, particularly among Latvian and Lithuanian women. The lack of association between obesity and most demographic, socioeconomic and behavioural factors suggests that the problem is generalized. Health promotion strategies aiming at preventing and controlling excess weight gain in the Baltic Republics will need to target the general population.
authors.affiliation: European Centre on Health of Societies in Transition, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pomerleau
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Pudule
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Grinberga
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kadziauskiene
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Abaravicius
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bartkeviciute
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vaask
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Robertson
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: McKee
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D001454:Baltic States / Q000453:epidemiology; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004957:Estonia / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007844:Latvia / Q000453:epidemiology; D008097:Lithuania / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012737:Sex Factors