association between weight perception and socioeconomic status among adults in the seychelles成年人体重感知之间的联系和社会经济地位在塞舌尔群岛.pdfVIP

Alwan et al. BMC Public Health 2010, 10:467 /1471-2458/10/467 RESEARCH ARTICLE Open Access Association between weight perception and socioeconomic status among adults in the Seychelles 1 2 2 1 1,2* Heba Alwan , Bharathi Viswanathan , Julita Williams , Fred Paccaud , Pascal Bovet Abstract Background: Few studies have examined the association between weight perception and socioeconomic status (SES) in sub-Saharan Africa, and none made this association based on education, occupation and income simultaneously. Methods: Based on a population-based survey (n = 1255) in the Seychelles, weight and height were measured and self-perception of one’s own body weight, education, occupation, and income were assessed by a questionnaire. Individuals were considered to have appropriate weight perception when their self-perceived weight matched their actual body weight. Results: The prevalence of overweight and obesity was 35% and 28%, respectively. Multivariate analysis among overweight/obese persons showed that appropriate weight perception was directly associated with actual weight, education, occupation and income, and that it was more frequent among women than among men. In a model using all three SES indicators together, only education (OR = 2.5; 95% CI: 1.3-4.8) and occupation (OR = 2.3; 95% CI: 1.2-4.5) were independently associated with appropriate perception of being overweight. The OR reached 6.9 [95% CI: 3.4-14.1] when comparing the highest vs. lowest categories of SES based on a score including all SES indicators and 6.1 [95% CI: 3.0-12.1] for a score based on education and occupation. Conclusions: Appropriately perceiving one’s weight as too high was associated with different SES indicators, female sex and being actually