A reversal in the obesity epidemic? A quasi-cohort and gender-oriented analysis in Spain

The prevalence of obesity has recently stabilized in some developed countries. Some studies show this stabilization in Spain, but they do not analyse its evolution by cohort. This paper analyses the transformation of the Spanish population over time and between quasi-cohorts of weight change by age...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Demographic research 2022, Vol.46, p.273-290
Main Authors: García-González, Juan Manuel, Martín-Criado, Enrique
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age
Age differences
Age groups
Body mass
Body mass index
Body size
Body weight
Cohort analysis
Control
Demographic aspects
Descriptive Finding
Developed countries
Epidemics
Evolution
Gender
Health aspects
Health surveys
Human body
Industrialized nations
Men
Obesity
Overweight
Population
Prostitution
Sex
Sex distribution (Demography)
Spain
Stabilization
Surveys
Transformation
Transsexuality
Trends
Variance analysis
Weight control
Weight gain
Women
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The prevalence of obesity has recently stabilized in some developed countries. Some studies show this stabilization in Spain, but they do not analyse its evolution by cohort. This paper analyses the transformation of the Spanish population over time and between quasi-cohorts of weight change by age and sex. Data was taken from seven waves of the National Health Survey of Spain between 1995 and 2017, with a sample of 100,206 individuals aged 20-79 years old. Adjusted prevalence of being overweight and obesity were calculated. The changes in body mass index (BMI) by sex and age, by and between quasi-birth cohorts, and over time were analysed using test of proportions, ANOVA, and the t-test. The prevalence of excessive body weight has stabilized or decreased in men since 2017 and in women since 1997. Among men, the prevalence of obesity stabilized recently and weight gain with age decreased after the 1950s cohort. Among women, mean BMI and excessive body weight decreased after the 1940s cohort. Our findings showed a stabilization and subsequent decrease in excessive body weight that is recent among men but took place more than two decades ago among women.
ISSN:1435-9871
2363-7064
1435-9871
DOI:10.4054/DemRes.2022.46.10