The Prevalence and Associated Factors of Central obesity in Northern Iran

Background: The main objective of this study was to evaluate theprevalence of central obesity and some related factors in the north of Iran(Golestan province) in 2006.Method: This was a population –based cross-sectional study that comprised2471 subjects (1250 males and 1221 female), using stratified cluster sampling.Interviewers recorded the data using the multidimensional questionnaire andanthropometric indexes. Waist circumference ≥102 and ≥88 cm categorized ascentral obesity for men and women respectively. SPSS 16.0 software was used forstatistical analysis.Results: The mean and standard deviation of age was 39.2±14.28 years andwaist circumference was 87.1±13.7 cm in men and 90.2±15.8 cm in women,respectively. In total, the prevalence of central obesity was 32.01% and it wassignificantly higher in women (57.2%) than in men (15.8%), in urban area (40.5%)than in rural areas (31.9%) and in uneducated people (52.3%) than in collegeeducated people (19.9) (P=0.001). Logistic regression analysis revealed thatcentral obesity was significantly associated with age, urbanization, parity andilliteracy (P<0.05).Conclusion: Central obesity was the most serious health problem in thenorth of Iran and it was more prevalent in women than men. Socio-demographicfactors such as younger age (between 15-25 and 25-35 years), urbanization,marital status and illiteracy were associated with central obesity. Furtherstudies are necessary to establish the association between central obesity andracial differences in this area.