한국 성인남녀의 교육 수준과 비만 간 관계 : 연령에 따른 변화를 중심으로

Abstract

Objectives: Despite the considerable interest in the increase in obesity particularly of socially disadvantaged group in Korea, how obesity varies according to various socio-demographic characteristics still remains largely unanswered. To further develop the understanding of obesity in Korea, the present study focuses on the possibility that the relationship between educational attainment and obesity varies across age. Methods: Using 2010 Korea National Health & Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES), this study divides the adults into male and female groups and examines the interaction effect of age and educational attainment on obesity through binominal logit models for each group. Results: The most educated male group is more likely to be obese than those who did not complete high school. And the relationship between male's educational attainment and obesity does not significantly change across age. In contrast to male's obesity pattern, female educational attainment has a significant negative association with obesity. The gap in obesity across educational groups converges after middle ages in female. Conclusions: Health policies should pay more attention to those who are more vulnerable to obesity risk in order to effectively reduce obesity.