Relationship between employment status and obesity in a Korean elderly population, based on the 2007–2009 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES)

Abstract

We investigated therelationshipbetweenemploymentstatusandobesityprevalence in anelderlyKorean, using a nationally representative sample. This cross-sectional study included 2991 participants (1396 men and 1595 women) aged 60 years or older.Employmentstatuswas categorized into full-time employees, part-time employees, and an unemployed group,basedon a self-reported questionnaire. According to Asia Pacific regional guidelines from the WorldHealthOrganization (WHO) and InternationalObesityTask Force (IOTF),obesitywas defined as a body mass index (BMI)≥25kg/m(2). Mean BMI in women was highest in the unemployed group, whereas the mean BMI in men did not differ significantly betweenemploymentgroups. Theobesityprevalence in full-time employees, part-time employees, and the unemployed group were 25.1%, 25.5%, and 27.1% in men and 36.0%, 37.9%, and 40.4% in women, respectively. Compared to the full-time employees, the odds ratios (ORs) (95% confidence intervals) forobesitywere 1.172 (0.765-1.795) and 1.164 (0.843-1.609) in the part-time employees, and 1.451 (1.054-1.999) and 1.399 (1.090-1.795) in the unemployed group, for men and women, respectively, after adjusting for age, lifestyle factors (physical activity, alcohol consumption, smokingstatus, daily calorie intake), socioeconomic factors (education level and household income), and inflammatory factor (white blood cell (WBC) counts). Unemployment appears to be significantly related to a higher prevalence risk ofobesityin anelderlyKoreanpopulation, regardless of age, lifestyle, socioeconomic factors, and inflammatory factor.