Fat free mass and obesity in relation to educational level.docVIP

BMC Public Health BioMedCentral Research article Open Access Fat free mass and obesity in relation to educational level Elina Sepp?nen-Nuijten1, Marjaana Lahti-Koski*1,2, Satu M?nnist?1, Paul Knekt1, Harri Rissanen1, Arpo Aromaa1 and Markku Heli?vaara1 Address: 1National Institute for Health and Welfare, Mannerheimintie 166, 00300 Helsinki, Finland and 2Finnish Heart Association, Oltermannintie 8, P.O.Box 50, 00621 Helsinki, Finland Email: Elina Sepp?nen-Nuijten - elina.seppanen-nuijten@elisanet.fi; Marjaana Lahti-Koski* - marjaana.lahti-koski@sydanliitto.fi; Satu M?nnist? - satu.mannisto@thl.fi; Paul Knekt - paul.knekt@thl.fi; Harri Rissanen - harri.rissanen@thl.fi; Arpo Aromaa - arpo.aromaa@thl.fi; Markku Heli?vaara - markku.heliovaara@thl.fi * Corresponding author Published: 4 December 2009 Received: 18 September 2009 Accepted: 4 December 2009 BMC Public Health 2009, 9:448 doi:10.1186/1471-2458-9-448 This article is available from: /1471-2458/9/448 ? 2009 Sepp?nen-Nuijten et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Abstract Background: The aim of the study was to describe the body composition of Finnish adults, especially by education, and to investigate whether fat-free mass (FFM) can explain educational gradients relating to body mass index (BMI) and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR). Methods: Data for this cross-sectional study were based on data collected in 2000-2001 for the Health 2000 Survey. Of the nationally representative sample of 8,028 Finnish men and women aged 30 years and older, 6,300 (78.5%) were included in the study. Body composition measurements were carried out in the health examination, where FFM was assessed with eight-polar bioelectrical impedance analysis. Questions o