title: The diminishing socioeconomic disparity in obesity in a Chinese population with rapid economic development: analysis of serial cross-sectional health survey data 2002-2010.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Social changes and economic development are associated with obesity epidemic. This study is to investigate the trends of socio-economic disparity in obesity from 2002 to 2010 in a Chinese population experiencing the world's fastest economic development.
  
  
  METHODS
  Four standardized surveys were conducted in a population of 85 million residents in Guangdong, China between 2002 and 2010. Multistage random cluster sampling was used to recruit representative samples. Information on socio-economic status (SES), proxied by education, occupation and residential area, was collected by face-to-face interviews. The weight, height and waist circumference of the participants were also measured.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Women with low education had an increased BMI of 0.85 kg/m(2), while women with high education had a decreased BMI of 0.16 kg/m(2) (p = 0.032 for interaction test). Similar trends were observed by using occupation and residential area as the SES indicators. Analysis in men yielded similar patterns. Waist circumference increased from 73.7 to 78.4 cm, and the increasing trends of statistical significance (p < 0.01) were observed in both genders and across all SES levels, with the magnitudes of increase in low SES levels being more pronounced. The impact of gradient in food attainment and occupational physical activity across the SES levels may wear off with further economic development, while factors such as health awareness, diet pattern and leisure activity may become increasingly important in driving the disparity.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The impact of gradient in food attainment and occupational physical activity across the SES levels may wear off with further economic development, while factors such as health awareness, diet pattern and leisure activity may become increasingly important in driving the disparity. Our findings suggest that health education should focus on the disadvantaged populations on health awareness for adopting healthier diet pattern and increasing physical activity.
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong kong, China. xqlao@cuhk.edu.hk.|Shenzhen Research Institute, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China. xqlao@cuhk.edu.hk.
authors.forename: Xiang Qian
authors.initials: XQ
authors.lastname: Lao
authors.affiliation: Guangdong Provincial Institute of Public Health, Center for Disease Control and Prevention of Guangdong Province, Guangzhou, China. mwj68@tom.com.
authors.forename: WenJun
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong kong, China. rychung@cuhk.edu.hk.
authors.forename: Roger Yat-Nork
authors.initials: RY
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.affiliation: Center for Disease Control and Prevention of Guangdong Province, Guangzhou, China. zyh@cdcp.org.cn.
authors.forename: YongHui
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Center for Disease Control and Prevention of Guangdong Province, Guangzhou, China. gdxyj05@21cn.com.
authors.forename: YanJun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Center for Disease Control and Prevention of Guangdong Province, Guangzhou, China. xu-yd@163.com.
authors.forename: XiaoJun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Center for Disease Control and Prevention of Guangdong Province, Guangzhou, China. Nieshp@163.com.
authors.forename: ShaoPing
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nie
authors.affiliation: Center for Disease Control and Prevention of Guangdong Province, Guangzhou, China. caiqiumao@qq.com.
authors.forename: QiuMao
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.affiliation: Center for Disease Control and Prevention of Guangdong Province, Guangzhou, China. xqlao88@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Liang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong kong, China. xuefensu@cuhk.edu.hk.
authors.forename: XueFen
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Su
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China. leiljin8@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China. soc.tam@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Tony
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tam
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong kong, China. bzee@cuhk.edu.hk.
authors.forename: Benny Chung-ying
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Zee
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D044466:Asian People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004032:Diet / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D057217:Economic Development; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011159:Population Surveillance; D015995:Prevalence; D012923:Social Class; D055105:Waist Circumference