Prevalence and influencing factors of overweight and obesity in a Chinese rural population: the Henan Rural Cohort Study

The study aimed to estimate prevalence and influencing factors of overweight, general obesity, and abdominal obesity in rural areas of China. A total of 39034 participants aged 18 to 79 years were enrolled from the Henan Rural Cohort Study for the cross-sectional study. The age-standardized prevalence of overweight, general obesity, and abdominal obesity were 34.97%, 16.82%, and 43.71% in the general Chinese rural adults, respectively. Gender differences were: 36.04%, 18.98%, 35.37% for men, and 34.55%, 15.42%, 49.13% for women, respectively. The subgroup analysis showed the rates of overweight, general obesity, and abdominal obesity existed considerable disparities, but were universally high in all subgroups. Further, the study found that there were statistically significant U-shaped associations between the prevalence of overweight, general obesity, and abdominal obesity and age groups. In addition, the prevalence of participants with both abnormal BMI and WC were even at approximate forty percent. Aging, married/cohabiting, higher per capita monthly income, and unhealthy lifestyle were independent influencing factors of overweight, general obesity and abdominal obesity. In conclusion, overweight and obesity were severe in rural China. There is an increased need for closely monitoring high risk factors and promoting healthy lifestyle to curb the obesity epidemic among rural population.