“Influence of education in the prevalence of obesity in Iranian northern adults” was a study to evaluate whether or not the prevalence of obesity in Iranian northern adults is related to education level. Other factors such as location, gender, age, and economic status were also considered. 2452 people aged 16-65 years old were chosen by clustered sampling for this study. Their weights and heights were measured and, from that information, their BMIs were calculated. For this study, a BMI of 25.0-29.9kg/m^2 was considered overweight and a BMI of 30.0kg/m^2 or higher was considered obese. Educational levels were classified into three groups: uneducated, 1-9 years of schooling, and high school or college.
As a whole, the prevalence of obesity was seen in 24% of the participants. The risk of obesity for uneducated people was 2.294 in comparison to high school or college-educated people. However, after adjusting for location, gender, age, and economic status, the risk of obesity for uneducated people was 2.044 in comparison to high school or college-educated people. Obesity in the uneducated was 29.6%, 26.4% in the 1-9 years of schooling group, and 15.4% in the high school or college group. It is evident from these results that illiteracy is a risk factor for obesity in these adults. Therefore, public health programs that aim to reduce obesity in Iranian northern adults should primarily focus on the uneducated and low-educated people.
This article caught my eye because I have always felt that we need to target populations that aren’t educated and teach them how to purchase healthy foods, how to prepare healthy foods, and what kinds of foods are healthy for you. As nutrition educators, we know scientifically how eating fatty foods and foods high in sodium affect our bodies. Those who have attended high school or college may not know that in detail, but they have some grasp on the concept that fatty and high sodium foods are bad for your body and can cause multiple diseases. However, the uneducated may just see food as fuel for the body, and as long as they aren’t hungry or showing signs of malnutrition, they think they are okay. We can’t expect people to eat healthier if they don’t know what that means or where to start.
Although I didn’t mention this in my summary of the article, the thing that most caught my eye was that 15.5% of the obese were men and 32.5% were women. I knew that the percentage for women was going to be higher, but didn’t expect it to be over double the percentage for men. I think that tells us that not only do we need to focus programs toward the uneducated, but we also need to target Iranian women more so than men.
Veghari, G, Sedaghat, M, Maghsodlo, S, Banihashem, S, Moharloei, P, Angizeh, A, Tazik, E, Moghaddami, A. Influence of education in the prevalence of obesity in Iranian northern adults. J Cardiovasc Dis Res. 2013;4(1):30-33.
I agree that educational information about nutrition should be readily available to everyone. It should be easy to understand and easy to access in order to prevent some of these health problems resulting from a lack of education. As nutrition students, I think we overlook the fact that the information we know isn’t common knowledge. I know from personal experience that a lot of my college-enrolled friends aren’t aware of nutrition facts that I find to be basic knowledge. I agree that we need to research more and find out why women in this area are more obese and better target interventions toward them.
This study, and others like it, suggests that better nutrition education leads to better health. However, we need to take into consideration that fact that the highly educated can choose to ignore the information and eat poorly anyway. But our job, as nutrition educators, is not to make that decision for them, but to educate them so they can make their own informed decision. I agree that the percentages of obese women in compared to men would be different depending on the country studied. I was not as surprised by the fact that the percentage was higher for women, given the country studied, but more so surprised by how large the percentage gap was.
I believe that we need to make nutritional information available for everyone. Its a terrible thing when individuals eat their way into health problems because they are nutritionally uneducated. What may seem like common knowledge to those of us in nutrition, may be the first time someone has heard that information. It is always shocking to read that these studies because we don’t always realize the knowledge gap that lies between health professionals and everyone else in the world. On a different topic, I agree that the male/female statistics for obesity are surprising. This is even more reason to understand the breakdown of the information system, where we are losing people and why women have a higher obesity rate in this instance.
I think this study is really interesting, the correlation between education and nutrition is a very progressive study. I think that the more educated an individual is the better chance they have of being nutritionally aware. This study somewhat proves my assumption and could also prove a valid case in other parts of the world. The only discrepancy I see with this study is the percentage of women to men who are obese. This study is done in a country where women aren’t provided the same opportunities as men. This statistic would vary in different countries like here in America and other countries where women have equal or more substantial rights. Overall a good study and good post.