Changes in weight, waist circumference, prevalence of obesity, and dietary factors associated with weight gain over 8 years in Korean adults: Longitudinal data from the Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study / 한국영양학회지

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: The purposes of this study were to describe changes in weight, waist circumference (WC), and prevalence of obesity over 8 years as well as investigate demographic and dietary factors associated with weight gain in Korean adults. METHODS: The Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study is an ongoing community-based longitudinal study, which was started in 2001~2002 and repeated every 2 years. Height, weight, and WC were measured, and demographic data and food intake information using the food frequency questionnaire were collected from 10,038 adults aged 40~69 years at baseline. Among those individuals, 3,506 healthy individuals without chronic diseases completed the 4th follow-up survey in 2009~2010. RESULTS: Mean weight decreased by 0.35 kg and 0.65 kg in men and women, respectively, whereas mean WC increased by 1.71 cm and 1.85 cm during the 8-year period. Prevalence of obesity based on body mass index (BMI) decreased from 34.5% to 33.5% in men and from 38.0% to 36.7% in women, whereas abdominal obesity increased from 14.8% to 22.2% in men and from 28.8% to 35.4% in women. Weight change was associated with age and smoking status in men, and residence area, age, education, income, and alcohol drinking in women. Approximately 57.5% maintained their BMI over 8 years (<±1 kg/m², stable weight group), 19.5% showed a BMI increase of ≥ 1 kg/m² (weight gain group), and 23.0% showed a BMI decrease of more than 1 kg/m² (weight loss group). There was no significant difference in energy intake calculated as the percentage of estimated energy requirements among the three weight change groups. Intakes of coffee mix and milk were significantly higher in the weight gain group than in the weight loss group in men after controlling for confounding factors. CONCLUSION: Our results show that higher consumption of coffee mix and milk was associated with weight gain in Korean healthy men.