Tarja I Kinnunen1, Natalia Skogberg2, Tommi Härkänen3, Annamari Lundqvist3, Tiina Laatikainen3,4,5, Päivikki Koponen3. 1. Faculty of Social Sciences/Health Sciences, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland. 2. Department of Welfare, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland. 3. Department of Public Health Solutions, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland. 4. Institute of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition, School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland. 5. Primary Health Care Unit, Hospital District of North Karelia, Joensuu, Finland.
Abstract
Background: Migrant background and higher parity may increase the risk of being overweight. We compared the prevalence of overweight (body mass index ≥25 kg/m2) and abdominal obesity (waist-to-height ratio ≥0.5) between non-pregnant migrant and Finnish women aged 18-45 years. Methods: The participants were 165 Russian, 164 Somali and 179 Kurdish origin women from the cross-sectional Migrant Health and Wellbeing study. The reference group included 388 women from the general Finnish population. Body anthropometrics were measured. The main statistical methods were logistic regression adjusted for sociodemographic and reproductive variables. Results: The unadjusted prevalence of overweight and obesity, respectively, were higher among Somali (32.9%, 30.9%, P < 0.001) and Kurdish women (41.1%, 19.5%, P < 0.001) than among Finnish women (19.9%, 9.8%). The adjusted odds ratios (95% CI) for overweight (including obesity) were 0.54 (0.33; 0.89) for Russian, 2.89 (1.66; 5.03) for Somali and 2.56 (1.64; 4.00) for Kurdish women compared with Finnish women. Kurdish women had 2.96-fold (1.75; 5.00) adjusted odds ratio for abdominal obesity compared with Finnish women. Being parous was associated with overweight and abdominal obesity among Kurdish women. Conclusions: Overweight and obesity were very common among Somali and Kurdish origin women. Information on diet and physical activity in these groups is needed.
Background: Migrant background and higher parity may increase the risk of being overweight. We compared the prevalence of overweight (body mass index ≥25 kg/m2) and abdominal obesity (waist-to-height ratio ≥0.5) between non-pregnant migrant and Finnish women aged 18-45 years. Methods: The participants were 165 Russian, 164 Somali and 179 Kurdish origin women from the cross-sectional Migrant Health and Wellbeing study. The reference group included 388 women from the general Finnish population. Body anthropometrics were measured. The main statistical methods were logistic regression adjusted for sociodemographic and reproductive variables. Results: The unadjusted prevalence of overweight and obesity, respectively, were higher among Somali (32.9%, 30.9%, P < 0.001) and Kurdish women (41.1%, 19.5%, P < 0.001) than among Finnish women (19.9%, 9.8%). The adjusted odds ratios (95% CI) for overweight (including obesity) were 0.54 (0.33; 0.89) for Russian, 2.89 (1.66; 5.03) for Somali and 2.56 (1.64; 4.00) for Kurdish women compared with Finnish women. Kurdish women had 2.96-fold (1.75; 5.00) adjusted odds ratio for abdominal obesity compared with Finnish women. Being parous was associated with overweight and abdominal obesity among Kurdish women. Conclusions: Overweight and obesity were very common among Somali and Kurdish origin women. Information on diet and physical activity in these groups is needed.
Authors: Bjorn Westgard; Brian C Martinson; Michael Maciosek; Morgan Brown; Zhiyuan Xu; Farhiya Farah; Osman Ahmed; Ahmed Dalmar; Diana Dubois; Laura Sanka; Douglas Pryce Journal: J Immigr Minor Health Date: 2020-09-17
Authors: Anna Akselsson; Helena Lindgren; Susanne Georgsson; Karin Pettersson; Viktor Skokic; Ingela Rådestad Journal: Glob Health Action Date: 2020-12-31 Impact factor: 2.640