• Korean Public Health Research
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.87-97
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• 2018

Background: Recently, the prevalence of obesity (body mass index [BMI] ${\geq}25kg/m^2$) has been increasing rapidly worldwide over a short period. In Korea, the prevalence of obesity has also increased rapidly due to the rapid socio-economic development and lifestyle changes, with differing patterns according to gender. This study aimed to compare the change in obesity prevalence according to gender among the adult population in Korea using representative data, the National Health Check-up Database (NHCD), to follow-up individuals who had undergone checkups during both years in Korea (2011~2013). Methods: To analyze the changes in obesity prevalence in the recent two years, data regarding men and women who had undergone health check-ups in both two years (2011, 2013) were extracted. The final study population comprised 144,934 persons: 83,604 (58%) males and 61,330 (42%) females. Chi-square test within a univariate analysis, and the level of factor difference was verified with t-test, one-way ANOVA and multiple comparison. Results: In 2011, one out of three participants was obese (BMI ${\geq}25kg/m^2$; male, 37.7%; female, 27.3%) and more than half of the subjects were overweight (BMI ${\geq}23kg/m^2$; male, 65.6%; female, 50.4%) requiring obesity management. For the two years, the BMI of the participants significantly increased (p < .0001) and the prevalence of obesity increased among both males and females. The prevalence of obesity was higher among both genders with a longer duration of smoking, more smoking, family history of hypertension, and family history of diabetes. However, residence, income level, drinking status, psychiatric disorder, disability status and severity of disability were the opposite gender. Conclusion: In the analysis of data, the prevalence of obesity among both men and women was increasing. The degree of change in the prevalence of obesity among men and women was different in each variable. Thus, it will need to consider gender in developing health policies for obesity mediation and to provide integrated healthcare and management for those people.