Gender differences in the relationships between obesity and lifestyle risk factors in a small farming town in Japan.

The prevalence of obesity and its relationship to lifestyle habits was studied in Minami Furano Town, a small farming town in Hokkaido, Japan. All residents of Minami Furano Town over 18 years of age were given an anonymous, self-administered questionnaire in March, 2002. Logistic-regression analysis was performed separately for each gender with obesity as the dependent valuable, and lifestyle risk factors as explanatory variables. The prevalence of obesity (BMI > or = 25) was 30.2% in men and 29.2% in women. The risk factors for obesity included "smoking", "having no hobby", "low intake frequency of green vegetables", "high intake frequency of cooking oil" and eating "a large quantity at dinnertime" in men. For women the risk factors included "age", "stress", "drinking alcohol", "eating quickly", "low tooth brushing frequency" and "irregular health checks". Nearly one third of the adults in this town were obese when assessed using the Japanese criteria of BMI > or = 25. Few women were employed full-time and they had limited opportunity for periodic health checks. Improved community-based nutrition activities are needed for women.