title: Ambient Temperature and Prevalence of Obesity: A Nationwide Population-Based Study in Korea.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Recent studies have suggested a possible association between outdoor or indoor temperature and obesity. We aimed to examine whether ambient temperature is associated with the prevalence of obesity or abdominal obesity in the Korean population.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data on anthropometric, socio-demographic, laboratory and lifestyle factors were retrieved from National Health Insurance System data obtained in 2009-2010. Thirty years (1981 to 2010) of meteorological parameters for 71 observation areas were acquired from the Korea Meteorological Administration. Included in this analysis were 124,354 individuals. A body mass index (BMI) ≥ 25 kg/m2 and a waist circumference (WC) ≥ 90 cm (men) or 85 cm (women) were considered to represent obesity and abdominal obesity, respectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean annual temperature (MAT) ranged from 6.6°C to 16.6°C, and BMI was positively correlated with MAT (r = 0.0078, P = 0.0065). WC was positively correlated with MAT (r = 0.0165, P < 0.0001) and negatively correlated with the number of days with mean temperature < 0°C (DMT0; r = -0.0129, P = 0.0002). After adjusting for age, sex, smoking status, alcohol consumption, exercise, income, residential area and altitude, the odds ratios (95% CI) for obesity and abdominal obesity in the highest quintile MAT group were 1.045 (1.010, 1.081) and 1.082 (1.042, 1.124), respectively, compared with the lower four quintiles of the MAT group. Similarly, subjects in the area of the lowest quintile of DMT0 had significantly higher odds of abdominal obesity compared with the higher four quintile groups of DMT0.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study finds an association between ambient temperature and prevalence of obesity in the Korean population when controlling for several confounding factors. Adaptive thermogenesis might be a possible explanation for this phenomenon.
authors.affiliation: Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Hae Kyung
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Statistics, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Kyungdo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Jae-Hyoung
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.affiliation: Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Kun-Ho
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Yoon
authors.affiliation: Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Bong-Yun
authors.initials: BY
authors.lastname: Cha
authors.affiliation: Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Seung-Hwan
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015992:Body Mass Index; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D015995:Prevalence; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D013696:Temperature; D022722:Thermogenesis; D055105:Waist Circumference; D055815:Young Adult