Association between socioeconomic status and adiposity in urban Cameroon.
BACKGROUND
As the relation between socioeconomic status (SES) and obesity may depend on the stage of development of a country, this relation is assessed in adults from urban Cameroon.


METHODS
A sample comprising 1530 women and 1301 men aged 25 years and above, from 1897 households in the Biyem-Assi health area in the capital of Cameroon, Yaoundé, were interviewed about their household amenities, occupation, and education. Weight, height, and waist circumference were measured and subjects were classified as obese if their BMI>or=30 kg/m2 or overweight if BMI was between 25.0 and 29.9 kg/m2. Abdominal obesity was defined by a waist circumference>or=80 cm in women and>or=94 cm in men.


RESULTS
Of the sample studied 33% of women and 30% of men were overweight (P<0.08), whereas 22% of women and 7% of men were obese (P<0.001). Abdominal obesity was present in 67% of women and 18% of men (P<0.001). After adjusting for age, leisure time physical activity, alcohol consumption, and tobacco smoking, the prevalence of overweight+obesity, obesity, and abdominal obesity increased with quartiles of household amenities in both genders and with occupational level in men.


CONCLUSIONS
SES is positively associated with adiposity in urban Cameroon after adjusting for confounding factors.
Fezeu
Leopold
L
Inserm Unité 258, Villejuif, France.
Minkoulou
Etienne
E
Balkau
Beverley
B
Kengne
André-Pascal
AP
Awah
Paschal
P
Unwin
Nigel
N
Alberti
George K M M
GK
Mbanya
Jean-Claude
JC
D000328:Adult; D001823:Body Composition; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002163:Cameroon; D003906:Developing Countries; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009765:Obesity / Q000209:etiology*; D009790:Occupations; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012923:Social Class; D014505:Urban Population