Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Original Communication
  • Published:

Influence of sociodemographic factors in the prevalence of obesity in Spain. The SEEDO'97 Study

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 55, pages 430–435 (2001)Cite this article

Abstract

Objective: To analyse the influence of social and cultural factors in the prevalence of obesity in the Spanish adult population aged 25–60 y based on available population data.

Design: Pooled analysis of four cross-sectional nutrition surveys.

Subjects: A total of 5388 free-living subjects aged 25–60 y, respondents of the Nutritional Surveys carried out in four Spanish regions (Catalunya, Basque Country, Madrid and Valencia) from 1990 to 1994. The samples were pooled together and weighted to build a national random sample.

Measurements: Weight and height were measured on each individual by trained observers. Age, gender, educational level, occupation, habitat (rural/urban) and region were considered. Obesity was defined as body mass index ≥30 kg/m2. The protocol used in each survey was in accordance with the recommendations of the Spanish Society for the Study of Obesity (SEEDO). Logisitic regression models were designed to analyse the influence of sociodemographic factors in the prevalence of obesity in men and women.

Results: The prevalence of obesity was higher in older age groups in men and women, odds ratio (OR) for every 10 y OR=1.40 (95% CI 1.39–1.41) for men and OR=1.86 (95% CI 1.85–1.87) for women. Logisitic regression analysis adjusted for age showed higher obesity rates among low educated people, OR=1.80 (95% CI 1.78–1.81) in men and OR=2.36 (95% CI 2.29–2.42) in women (P<0.001). Among men the odds ratio for the prevalence of obesity in rural areas was OR=1.87 (95% CI 1.86–1.89), compared to cities. The geographical distribution showed higher obesity rates in the southeast.

Conclusion: This study supports that obesity is a multifactorial problem. Older women with low educational level and low income seem to be the most susceptible group to weight gain. Therefore, Public Health Programs should consider this type of environmental factor when planning strategies aimed at preventing or reducing the problem of obesity in western societies.

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2001) 55, 430–435

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alvarez Dardet C, Alonso J, Domingo A & Regidor E (1995) La medición de la clase social en ciencias de la salud Barcelona: SG-Sociedad Española de Epidemiología

    Google Scholar 

  • Alvarez Torices JC, Franch Nadal J, Alvarez Guisasola F, De Pablo Pons ML, Hernández Mejía R & Cueto Espinar A (1992) La obesidad en la provincia de León. Distintos criterios, diferentes prevalencias Aten Primaria 10 1013–1018

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Aranceta J (1998) Epidemiología de la obesidad en los países desarrollados Nutr. Obes. 1 12–22

    Google Scholar 

  • Aranceta J, Pérez C, Amela C & García Herrera R (1994) Encuesta de Nutrición de la Comunidad de Madrid Madrid: Consejería de Salud de la Comunidad de Madrid

    Google Scholar 

  • Aranceta J, Pérez C, Marzana I, Egileor I, González de Galdeano L & Sáenz de Buruaga J (1995) Encuesta de nutrición de la Comunidad Autónoma Vasca. Tendencias de consumo alimentario, indicadores bioquímicos y estado nutricional de la población adulta Vitoria: Servicio de Publicaciones Gobierno Vasco

  • Aranceta J, Pérez C, Marzana I, Egileor I, González de Galdeano L & Sáenz de Buruaga J (1998a) Food consumption patterns in the adult population of the Basque Country (EINUT-I) Public Health Nutr. 3 185–192

    Google Scholar 

  • Aranceta J, Pérez Rodrigo C, Serra Majem LI, Ribas L, Quiles Izquierdo J & Vioque J y cols (1998b) Prevalencia de la obesidad en España: estudio SEEDO'97 Med. Clin. (Barc.) 111 441–445

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Banegas JR, Villar Alvarez F, Pérez de Andrés C, Jiménez García-Pascual R, Gil López E, Muñiz García J & Juane Sánchez R (1993) Estudio epidemiológico de los factores de riesgo cardiovascular en la población española de 35 a 44 años Rey. San. Hig. Pub. 67 419–445

    Google Scholar 

  • Bernard Krief (1999) Informe: Estudio de costes sociales y económicos de la obesidad y sus patologías asociadas. Madrid

  • Birmingham CL, Muller JL, Palepu A, Spinelli JJ & Anis AH (1999) The cost of obesity in Canada Can. Med. Assoc. J. 23 483–488

    Google Scholar 

  • Bouchard C (1996) Genetics of obesity in humans: current issues In The Origin and Consequences of Obesity CYBA Foundation Symposium 201 108–117 Chichester: Wiley

    Google Scholar 

  • Braam LA, Ocke MC, Bueno-de-Mesquita HB & Seidell JC (1998) Determinants of obesity-related underreporting of energy intake Am. J. Epidemiol. 147 1081–1086

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bray G, Bouchard C & James WPT (1998) Definitions and proposed current classifications of obesity In Handbook of Obesity G Bray, C Bouchard & WPT James (eds) 31–40 New York: Marcel-Dekker

    Google Scholar 

  • Caballero B (2000) Obesidad en países en transición. La obesidad como problema emergente en la salud pública de 2000 XII Congreso Latinoamericano de Nutrición Buenos Aires 12–16 November.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coakley EH, Rimm EB, Colditz G, Kawachi I & Willet W (1998) Predictors of weight change in men: results from the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study Int. J. Obes. Relat. Metab. Disord. 22 89–96

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Flegal KM, Troiano RP, Pamuk ER, Kuczmarski J & Campbell SM (1995) The influence of smoking cessation on the prevalence of overweight in the United States New Engl. J. Med. 333 1165–1170

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gutierrez-Fisac JL, Regidor E & Rodriguez C (1994) Prevalencia de obesidad en España Med. Clin. (Barc.) 102 10–13

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Haapanen N, Miilunlpalo S, Pasanen M, Oja P & Vuori I (1997) Association between leisure-time physical activity and 10-year body mass change among working-aged men and women Int. J. Obes. Relat. Metab. Disord. 21 288–296

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jenicek M & Cléroux R (1987) Epidemiología. Principios, técnicas, aplicaciones Barcelona: Salvat

  • Khan LK & Bowman BA (1999) Obesity: a mayor global public health problem Am. Rev. Nutr. 19 13–17

    Google Scholar 

  • Kish L (1995) Survey Sampling New York: John Wiley

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuczmarski R, Flegal K, Campbell S & Johnson C (1994) Increasing prevalence of overweight among US adults. The National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys, 1960 to 1991 J.A.M.A. 272 205–211

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Laurier D, Guiguet M, Phong Chau N, Wells J & Valleron AJ (1992) Prevalence of Obesity: a comparative survey in France, the United Kingdom and the United States Int. J. Obes. Relat. Metab. Disord. 16 565–572

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lohman TG, Roche AF & Martorell R (1988) Anthropometric Standardisation Reference Manual Champaign, II: Human Kinetics

    Google Scholar 

  • MacDonald SM, Reeder BA, Chen Y & Despres JP (1997) Obesity in Canada: a descriptive analysis. Canadian Heart Health Surveys Research Group Can. Med. Assoc. J. 57(Suppl 1) S3–S9

    Google Scholar 

  • Martikainen PT & Marmot MG (1999) Socioeconomic differences in weight gain and determinants and consequences of coronary risk factors Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 69 719–726

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Molarius A, Seidell JC, Kuulasmaa K, Dobson AJ & Sans S (1997) Smoking and relative body weight: an international perspective from the WHO MONICA project J. Epidemiol. Community Health 51 252–260.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Norusis MJ (1996) SPSS 7.0 Chicago, IL: SPSS, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pi-Sunyer FX (1993) Medical hazards of obesity Ann. Intern. Med. 119 655–660

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Quiles Izquierdo J & Vioque J (1996) Prevalencia de obesidad en la Comunidad Valenciana Med. Clin. (Barc.) 106 529–533

    Google Scholar 

  • Reeder BA, Chen Y, MacDonald SM, Angel A & Sweet L (1997) Regional and rural–urban differences in obesity in Canada. Canadian Heart Health Surveys Research Group. Can. Med. Assoc. J. 57(Suppl 1) S10–S16

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosmond R & Björntorp P (1999) Psychosocial and socio-economic factors in women and their relationship to obesity and regional body fat distribution Int. J. Obes. Relat. Metab. Disord. 23 138–145

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Serra Majem L, Ribas Barba L, García Closas R et al (1996) Avaluació de l'estat nutricional de la població catalana (1992–93). Avalauació dels hàbits alimentaris, el consum d'aliments, energia i nutrients, i de l'estat nutricional mitjançant indicadors bioquímics i antropomêtrics. Barcelona: Generalitat de Catalunya Department de Sanitat i Seguretat Social

  • SEEDO (Sociedad Española para el Estudio de la Obesidad) (1996) Consenso español 1995 para la evaluación de la obesidad y para la realisación de estudios epidemiológicos Med. Clin. (Barc.) 107 782–787

    Google Scholar 

  • Stam-Moraga M, Kolanowski J, Dramaix J, De Backer G & Kornitzer MD (1999) Sociodemographic and nutritional determinants of obesity in Belgium Int. J. Obes. Relat. Metab. Disord. 23(Suppl 1) S1–S9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • SUDAAN (1995) SUDAAN Research Triangle Park, NC: Research Triangle Institute

  • Sullivan K, Kalsbeek W, Chen M & Frerichs R (1994) CSAMPLE: analysing data from complex survey samples In Epi Info, Version 6: a Word Processing, Database, and Statistics Program for Epidemiology on Microcomputers, eds. AG Dean, JA Dean, D Coulombier, KA Brendel, DC Smith, AH Burton, RC Dicker, K Sullivan, RF Fagan, TG Arner. Atlanta, GA: Center for Disease Control and Prevention

    Google Scholar 

  • Sundquist J & Johansson SE (1998) The influence of socioeconomic status, ethnicity and lifestyle on body mass index in a longitudinal study Int. J. Epidemiol. 27 57–63

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute Expert Panel on the Identification, Evaluation and Treatment of Overweight and Obesity in Adults (1998) Executive summary of the clinical guidelines on the identification, evaluation, and treatment of overweight and obesity in adults J. Am. Diet. Assoc. 98 1178–1191

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tormo Díaz MJ, Navarro Sánchez C et al (1995) Factores de riesgo cardiovasculares en la Región de Murcia, 1992. Serie Informes 20. Murcia: Región de Murcia, Consejería de Sanidad y Asuntos Sociales

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Itallie ThB (1994) Worldwide epidemiology of obesity Pharmaco Economics 5(Suppl 1) 1–7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vioque J, Torres A & Quiles J (2000) Time spent watching television, sleep duration and obesity in adults living in Valencia, Spain Int. J. Obes. Relat. Metab. Disord. 24 1683–1688

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • WHO (1998) Programme of Nutrition, Family and Reproductive Health Obesity. Preventing and managing the global epidemic. Report of a WHO consultation on obesity, Geneva 3–5 June 1997. Geneva: World Health Organization

  • WHO Monica Project (1988) Geographical variation in the major risk factors of coronary heart disease in men and women aged 35–64 y World Health Stat. O. 41 115–140

    Google Scholar 

  • Wolf AM & Colditz GA (1994) The cost of obesity. The US perspective PharmacoEconomics 5(Suppl 1) 34–37

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

JV was supported by a grant fromt the Fondo Investigación Sanitaria (FIS 00/0985).

Author information

Author notes

  1. J Aranceta, C Perez-Rodrigo, L Serra-Majem, L Ribas, J Quiles-Izquierdo, J Vioque and M Foz: The members of The Spanish Collaborative Group for the Study of Obesity are: J Aranceta, M Barbany, D Bellido, M Carrillo, S Durán, ML Fernádez-Soto, X Formiguera, M Foz, P García-Luna, JL Griera, JF Martínez Valls, E Morejón, B Moreno, L Serra-Majem, M Serrano Ríos y FJ Tébar.

  2. J Aranceta, C Perez-Rodrigo, L Serra-Majem, L Ribas, J Quiles-Izquierdo, J Vioque and M Foz: Guarantor: Spanish Society for the Study of Obesity (SEEDO).

  3. J Aranceta, C Perez-Rodrigo, L Serra-Majem, L Ribas, J Quiles-Izquierdo, J Vioque and M Foz: Contributors: The Members of The Spanish Collaborative Group for the Study of Obesity contributed to the design of the study.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Public Health, Community Nutrition Unit, Municipality of Bilbao, Bilbao, Spain

    J Aranceta & C Perez-Rodrigo

  2. Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas, Spain

    L Serra-Majem

  3. Department of Public Health, Group of Community Nutrition, Faculty of Medicine, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

    L Ribas

  4. Department of Public Health, University Miguel Hernandez, Campus San Juan, Alicante, Spain

    J Quiles-Izquierdo & J Vioque

  5. Department of Internal Medicine, Germans Trias i Pujol University Hospital, Badalona, Spain

    M Foz

Authors
  1. J Aranceta
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. C Perez-Rodrigo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. L Serra-Majem
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. L Ribas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. J Quiles-Izquierdo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. J Vioque
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. M Foz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Consortia

Spanish Collaborative Group for the Study of Obesity†b

Corresponding author

Correspondence to J Aranceta.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Aranceta, J., Perez-Rodrigo, C., Serra-Majem, L. et al. Influence of sociodemographic factors in the prevalence of obesity in Spain. The SEEDO'97 Study. Eur J Clin Nutr 55, 430–435 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1601189

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1601189

Keywords

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links