Prevalence of obesity and overweight among urban adults in Bulgaria.
OBJECTIVE
The prevalence of obesity is increasing in transitional countries, but extensive data on some countries, such as Bulgaria, are still lacking. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to estimate the prevalence of overweight and obesity, relative to gender and income, among adults in Sofia, Bulgaria.


METHODS
Cross-sectional survey to collect data on diet, health, BMI and income using a brief questionnaire on diet and income. Data were analysed using analysis of covariance to determine differences within and between income and gender groups.


METHODS
Sofia, Bulgaria.


METHODS
Adults living in the city of Sofia, Bulgaria.


RESULTS
For adults 30-60 years of age, 35.1 % were overweight and 6.2 % were obese. The proportion of overweight and obesity was higher among men than women (44.8 % v. 32.4 % and 6.0 % v. 4.7 %, respectively). With respect to income, BMI decreased as income increased. For men, BMI was highest for the lowest and highest income groups, whereas for women lower income was associated with a higher BMI.


CONCLUSIONS
The prevalence of overweight and obesity appears to be an emerging problem in some sectors of Bulgarian society, based on our data from the largest urban area of the country. These data provide new information on the divergence in health and disease risk in a country that is still economically challenged and may be facing the nutrition transition.
Ivanova
Lumdila
L
National Center of Public Health Protection, Sofia, Bulgaria.
Dimitrov
Plamen
P
Dellava
Jocilyn
J
Hoffman
Daniel
D
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002031:Bulgaria / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D050177:Overweight / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D011634:Public Health; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014505:Urban Population; D055815:Young Adult