Urban living and obesity: is it independent of its population and lifestyle characteristics?

Objectives: Living in an urban area influences obesity. However, little is known about whether this relationship is truly independent of, or merely mediated through, the demographic, socio-economic and lifestyle characteristics of urban populations. We aimed to identify and quantify the magnitude of this relationship in a Sri Lankan population.

Gender differentials of abdominal obesity among the adults in the district of Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Objective: To assess the gender-specific prevalence and determinants of abdominal obesity (AO) within the population and lifestyle diversity of an urban district in Sri Lanka.

Methods: Prevalence of AO (defined by waist circumference) was estimated in a cross-sectional study of 1400 adults aged 20-64, residing in the district of Colombo in 2004. Demographic, socio-economic and lifestyle factors were assessed in gender-specific logistic regression models to identify determinants of AO.