Association of body mass index and abdominal obesity with marital status in adults.
BACKGROUND
Obesity continues to be an important public health problem worldwide. The objective of this study was to determine the association of body mass index and abdominal obesity with current marital status among the adult population of Iran.


METHODS
A nation-wide cross-sectional survey was conducted from December 2004 through February 2005.The subjects were selected by stratified probability cluster sampling through household family members in Iran. Weight, height, waist circumference, and marital status of 89,404 men and women aged 15 - 65 (mean: 39.2) years were recorded. Four classes of body mass index, i.e., <18.5, 18.5 - 24.9, 25 - 29.9, and > or =30 kg/cm2, and three marital status, i.e., currently-, formerly-, and never-married were used. Abdominal obesity was defined as waist circumference > or =102 cm in men and > or =88 cm in women.


RESULTS
The prevalence of overweight was twofold higher in married men (OR: 2.24; 95% CI: 2.08 - 2.41) and women (OR: 2.36; 95% CI: 2.20 - 2.53) than never-married men and women, even when age, educational level, leisure time physical activity, smoking habits, and place of residence were controlled. The multivariate OR of obesity was increased about threefold in married men (2.82; 95% CI: 2.51 - 3.18) and women (3.64; 95% CI: 3.31 - 3.99). The prevalence of abdominal obesity was twofold higher among married men (2.02; 95% CI: 1.79 - 2.29) and about threefold higher among married women (2.87; 95% CI: 2.69 - 3.06).


CONCLUSIONS
The marital status appears to influence the likelihood of developing overweight, obesity, and abdominal obesity in both men and women in Iran.
Janghorbani
Mohsen
M
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran. janghorbani@yahoo.com
Amini
Masoud
M
Rezvanian
Hasan
H
Gouya
Mohammad-Mehdi
MM
Delavari
Alireza
A
Alikhani
Siamak
S
Mahdavi
Alireza
A
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015992:Body Mass Index; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D017533:Marital Status; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012494:Sampling Studies; D055105:Waist Circumference; D055815:Young Adult