title: Influence of education in the prevalence of obesity in Iranian northern adults.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The main aim of this study was to evaluate whether prevalence of obesity in educational levels is different and some related factors in Iranian northern adults.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a cross-sectional descriptive study based on population and 2452 cases (1224 men and 1228 women) aged 15-65 years were chosen by cluster and stratify sampling. Subjects were randomly chosen from 125 clusters and each cluster included 20 cases. Interviewers recorded the data using a multidimensional questionnaire including socio-demographic indexes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  As a whole, the prevalence of obesity was seen in 24% of subjects (15.5% in male and 32.5% in female) and significantly was seen in 3.1% and 14.1% of uneducated people more than in 1-9 year schooling and in high school or college-educated people, respectively (P = 0.001). The risk of obesity was 2.294 (P = 0.001) in uneducated compared to high school or college-educated people, 1.668 (P = 0.001) in urban area compared to rural area, 2.619 (P = 0.001) in 40-65 year people compared to 15-40 year people, and 1.534 (P = 0.003) in good economic compared to poor economic groups. After adjusted for location area, gender, age, and economic stats, the risk of obesity was 2.044 (P = 0.001) in uneducated people compared to high school or college-educated subjects.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The obesity as a health problem in Iranian northern adults supported in this study and it was negatively associated with educational levels. Public health programs that aim to reduce obesity should primarily focus on the illiterate and low-educated people.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Nutrition, School of Medicine, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Gorgan, Iran.
authors.forename: Gholamreza
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Veghari
authors.forename: Mehdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sedaghat
authors.forename: Siavash
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Maghsodlo
authors.forename: Samieh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Banihashem
authors.forename: Pooneh
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Moharloei
authors.forename: Abdolhamid
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Angizeh
authors.forename: Ebrahim
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tazik
authors.forename: Abbas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Moghaddami
keywords: Adults; Education; Northern Iran; Obesity
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