Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2014 Oct;68(10):1101-6.
doi: 10.1038/ejcn.2014.86. Epub 2014 Jun 11.

Global differences between women and men in the prevalence of obesity: is there an association with gender inequality?

F Garawi  1 , K Devries  1 , N Thorogood  1 , R Uauy  1
Affiliations

Global differences between women and men in the prevalence of obesity: is there an association with gender inequality?

F Garawi et al. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2014 Oct.

Abstract

Background/objectives: In most populations the prevalence of obesity is greater in women than in men; however, the magnitude of the difference between the sexes varies significantly by country. We considered the role of gender inequality in explaining these disparities.

Subjects/methods: We undertook an ecological analysis of internationally comparable obesity prevalence data to examine the association between indicators of gender inequality and the differences between men and women in obesity prevalence. Gender inequality was assessed using three measures: the Gender Inequality Index, the Global Gender Gap Index and the Social Institutions and Gender Index. We fitted multiple regression models to examine the association.

Results: We found that the prevalence of obesity across countries shows gendered patterning with greater prevalence and greater heterogeneity in women than in men (P<0.001). We also found that two of three measures of gender inequality were significantly associated with the sex differences in obesity prevalence across countries.

Conclusions: The patterning of obesity across countries is gendered. However, the association between global measures of gender inequality and the sex gap in obesity is dependent on the measure used. Further research is needed to investigate the mechanisms that underpin the gendered nature of obesity prevalence.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. PLoS One. 2010 May 12;5(5):e10587 - PubMed
    1. Obes Rev. 2007 Mar;8 Suppl 1:vi-ix - PubMed
    1. Lancet. 2011 Feb 12;377(9765):557-67 - PubMed
    1. Lancet. 2012 Apr 28;379(9826):1641-52 - PubMed
    1. Obes Rev. 2010 Jun;11(6):457-64 - PubMed