Gender differences and socioeconomic status in relation to overweight among older Korean people.
BACKGROUND
The ever-increasing older population and its association with serious overweight problems have garnered much attention. The correlation between being overweight and socioeconomic status factors could be helpful for understanding the inequalities among the overweight population. We examined the correlation between being overweight and some key variables, such as demographics, socioeconomic status, general health status, and health behavior in a large sample of older individuals, by each gender.


METHODS
We used data from the 2008 Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging and it included 8,157 participants who were 45 years or older. To understand the relationship between the overweight participants in accordance to demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, health status, and health behaviors, a weighted chi-square test and logistic regression analysis were conducted by separating variables related to overweight, according to the genders.


RESULTS
The number of people in the normal group was 6,347 (77.8%), while the people who were considered overweight were 1,810 (22.2%). Women (n = 4,583) constituted 52.7% of the subject, 24.9% of whom were classified as overweight. Meanwhile, 20.6% of the 47.3% (n = 3,574) of the sample who were men were classified as overweight. Participants between the ages of 45 and 64 with chronic diseases were more likely to be overweight. Men in the 4th quartile of household income were more likely to be overweight than those who were in the 1st quartile, in contrast, while unemployed women with lower education levels and urban residents were at greater risk for being overweight.


CONCLUSIONS
Among the men, health status and health behavior appeared to show a correlation with being overweight; however, among women, socioeconomic status factors were strongly related to being overweight. These findings appear to support the association of gender-specifics with the prevalence of being overweight.
Department of Healthcare Management, Eulji University, Seongnam, Korea.
Jin-Won
JW
Noh
Graduate School of Public Health, Korea University, Seoul, Korea.
Minkyung
M
Jo
Strategy Department for Women-friendly Policy, Korean Women's Development Institute, Seoul, Korea.
Taewook
T
Huh
School of Nursing, University of Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America.
Jooyoung
J
Cheon
Department of Humanities and Social Medicine, College of Medicine and Catholic Institute for Healthcare Management, the Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea.
Young Dae
YD
Kwon
D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D050177:Overweight / Q000453:epidemiology*; D056910:Republic of Korea; D012737:Sex Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors