Socio-demographic inequalities in overweight and obesity among Lithuanian adults: time trends from 1994 to 2014.

AIM

The aim was to examine trends in socio-demographic differences in the prevalence of overweight and obesity among the Lithuanian adult population from 1994 to 2014.

METHODS

The data from 11 postal surveys were analysed. For every survey, a nationally representative random sample aged 20-64 was drawn from the National Population Register. The sample consisted of 3000 individuals in each of the 1994-2008 surveys and 4000 in the last three surveys. Altogether, 8738 men and 11,822 women participated in the surveys. Self-reported weight and height were used to calculate BMI.

RESULTS

From 1994 to 2014, the prevalence of overweight and obesity increased in all socio-demographic groups of men, reaching 58.6% and 19.5% respectively. Highly educated men and those living in cities had higher BMI values than lower educated and non-urban inhabitants without substantial changes in the differences in BMI over the study period. In women, the prevalence of overweight decreased from 51.7% to 46%, whereas the prevalence of obesity did not change being 19.2% in 2014. Overweight and obesity were more common among lower educated women and those living in non-urban areas than in the others. Educational inequalities in weight status of women increased due to the decrease of BMI only in women with university education. CONCLUSIONS TIME TRENDS IN BMI WERE MORE PRONOUNCED AMONG LITHUANIAN MEN THAN WOMEN, WHEREAS SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC INEQUALITIES WERE GREATER AMONG WOMEN THE STRATEGIES FOR PREVENTION AND CONTROL OF OBESITY SHOULD TARGET ALL MEN AND WOMEN WITH LOWER EDUCATION AND LIVING IN NON-URBAN AREAS OF LITHUANIA.