title: Ownership of consumer electronics is associated with measures of adiposity during health transition in Vanuatu.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The Republic of Vanuatu, like many developing nations, is undergoing a rapid health transition. Our previous study identified several behavioral risk factors for the rising prevalence of obesity. Unexpectedly, daily time spent using television and radio was revealed as a protective factor for obesity in 2007. In this study, we sought to explore associations between ownership of consumer electronics (CE) and measures of adiposity in Vanuatu in 2011.
  
  
  METHODS
  We surveyed 873 adults from five islands varying in level of economic development. Height, weight, and waist circumferences; triceps, subscapular, and suprailiac skinfolds; and percent body fat by bioelectrical impedance were measured. Ownership of eight types of CE, diet through 24-h dietary recall and leisure-time activity patterns were assessed using a questionnaire.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Participants from more developed islands owned more types of CE, and revealed higher measures of adiposity on average as well as higher prevalence of obesity/central obesity. When controlling for demographic factors, and dietary and activity patterns, increased measures of adiposity and risk for obesity/central obesity were associated with ownership of cellphones, music players, televisions, video players, microwaves, and/or refrigerators. Positive correlations between CE ownership and measures of adiposity were mainly observed among men on the two most developed islands.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of this study indicate a possible role of CE use in the rising prevalence of obesity and the shift to a sedentary lifestyle in Vanuatu and many other modernizing regions, where prevention efforts including education on healthy use of CE are imperative.
authors.affiliation: Global Health Research Center, Duke Kunshan University, Kunshan, Jiangsu, China.
authors.forename: Cheng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, SUNY Binghamton, Binghamton, New York.|Laboratory of Evolutionary Anthropology and Health, SUNY Binghamton, Binghamton, New York.|Laboratory of Biomedical Anthropology and Neurosciences, SUNY Binghamton, Binghamton, New York.
authors.forename: Alysa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pomer
authors.affiliation: Département des sciences de l'activité physique, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), Montreal, Canada.
authors.forename: Kelsey N
authors.initials: KN
authors.lastname: Dancause
authors.affiliation: Island Malaria Group, Department of Microbiology Tumor and Cell Biology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Chim W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.affiliation: Department of Criminology, Anthropology, and Sociology, Cleveland State University, Cleveland, Ohio.
authors.forename: Kathryn M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Olszowy
authors.affiliation: Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine at Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York.
authors.forename: Harold
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Silverman
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Evolutionary Anthropology and Health, SUNY Binghamton, Binghamton, New York.
authors.forename: Gwang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Health, Port Vila, Republic of Vanuatu.
authors.forename: Len
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tarivonda
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Health, Port Vila, Republic of Vanuatu.
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Taleo
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Justice and Social Affairs, Port Vila, Republic of Vanuatu.
authors.forename: Ralph
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Regenvanu
authors.affiliation: Island Malaria Group, Department of Microbiology Tumor and Cell Biology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.|Department of Parasitology, Osaka City University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan.|Institute of Tropical Medicine, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan.
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kaneko
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
authors.forename: Charles A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Weitz
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, SUNY Binghamton, Binghamton, New York.|Laboratory of Biomedical Anthropology and Neurosciences, SUNY Binghamton, Binghamton, New York.|Department of Biological Sciences, SUNY Binghamton, Binghamton, New York.
authors.forename: Ralph M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Garruto
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, SUNY Binghamton, Binghamton, New York.|Laboratory of Evolutionary Anthropology and Health, SUNY Binghamton, Binghamton, New York.|Department of Biological Sciences, SUNY Binghamton, Binghamton, New York.
authors.forename: J Koji
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Lum
mesh_terms: D050154:Adiposity; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D019456:Health Transition; D006801:Humans; D007899:Leisure Activities; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D010067:Ownership; D015995:Prevalence; D011845:Radio; D012307:Risk Factors; D057185:Sedentary Behavior; D013690:Television; D009514:Vanuatu / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: Vanuatu; anthropometrics; consumer electronics; health transition; obesity