Epidemiology of general obesity, abdominal obesity and related risk factors in urban adults from 33 communities of Northeast China: the CHPSNE study

Obesity increases the risk of many diseases. However, there has been little literature about the epidemiology of obesity classified by body mass index (BMI) or waist (abdominal obesity) among urban Chinese adults. This study is to fill the gap by assessing the prevalence of obesity and associated risk factors among urban Chinese adults. A representative sample of 25,196 urban adults aged 18 to 74 years in Northeast China was selected and measurements of height, weight and waist circumference (WC) were taken from 2009-2010. Definitions of overweight and obesity by the World Health Organization (WHO) were used. The overall prevalence rates of general obesity and overweight classified by BMI were 15.0% (15.7% for men and 14.3% for women, p