Kaluski Dorit Nitzan, Keinan-Boker Lital, Stern Felicia, Green Manfred S, Leventhal Alex, Goldsmith Rebecca, Chinich Ayelet, Berry Elliot M
Public Health Services, Israeli Center for Disease Control, Ministry of Health, Gertner Institute, Sheba Medical Center, Israel 52621.
Obesity (Silver Spring). 2007 Jul;15(7):1808-15. doi: 10.1038/oby.2007.215.
Our objective was to examine gender differences in height and weight associated with socioeconomic status (SES) and the consequent effect on body mass index in a multiethnic society.
A cross-sectional study, the First Israeli National Health and Nutrition Survey, was performed on a representative population sample of 3246 adults 25 to 64 years of age, between the years 1999 to 2001. Height and weight were measured, and BMI and other weight-height indices were calculated. SES was assessed by income and education.
Age-adjusted height was significantly lower at lower levels of SES among both women and men (p<0.001). As opposed to men, women of lower SES were heavier than those of higher SES, and the mean age-adjusted weight was 4.6 kg higher among those of lower SES (p<0.001). Thus, using the standard index of BMI, the prevalence of obesity was significantly higher among shorter women.
In this group of Israeli adults, the unfavorable effect of low SES on BMI was evident among women, partly due to their decreased height combined with increased weight common in this socioeconomic sector. Since BMI is only partly independent of height, it may overestimate the prevalence of obesity among women of lower SES. Alternative measures for classifying obesity in the lower SES groups that put less emphasis on height may be considered and studied.
我们的目的是在一个多民族社会中，研究与社会经济地位（SES）相关的身高和体重方面的性别差异，以及由此对体重指数产生的影响。
一项横断面研究——以色列第一次全国健康与营养调查，于1999年至2001年间，对3246名年龄在25至64岁的成年人的代表性人口样本进行。测量身高和体重，并计算体重指数（BMI）及其他身高体重指数。SES通过收入和教育程度进行评估。
在男女中，SES较低水平人群的年龄调整身高均显著较低（p<0.001）。与男性不同，SES较低的女性比SES较高的女性更重，SES较低人群的年龄调整后平均体重高出4.6千克（p<0.001）。因此，使用BMI标准指数，较矮女性中的肥胖患病率显著更高。
在这组以色列成年人中，低SES对BMI的不利影响在女性中很明显，部分原因是她们身高降低，再加上在这个社会经济阶层中常见的体重增加。由于BMI仅部分独立于身高，它可能高估了SES较低女性中的肥胖患病率。可以考虑并研究在较低SES群体中对肥胖进行分类的替代措施，这些措施较少强调身高。
