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The impact of soaring food prices on obesity in women: A longitudinal analysis in 31 developing countries
Author(s) -
Conklin Annalijn I.,
Daoud Adel,
Shimkhada Riti,
Ponce Ninez
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.31.1_supplement.147.2
Subject(s) - food prices , socioeconomic status , obesity , inflation (cosmology) , demography , confounding , logistic regression , population , medicine , economics , environmental health , geography , food security , agriculture , physics , archaeology , pathology , sociology , theoretical physics
Objectives To examine the association between food price inflation and obesity among women in low and middle‐income countries, and assess whether the association differs by socioeconomic status. Methods Longitudinal study of the international prices of food (FAO food price index), which measures the monthly change in prices of a basket of food commodities, temporally and geographically linked to 295,984 non‐pregnant adult (age>=24 y) women participants in the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) from 31 low‐ and middle‐income countries (2000–2014). Multilevel logistic regression with two‐level random‐intercept growth models was used to estimate the joint association of food price inflation and SES differences with obesity, conditioning on known confounders. Post‐estimation computed population averaged differences in the predicted probability of being obese across the range of food price inflation values. Results We found that rising food prices were strongly associated with obesity prevalence, and particularly that the relationship showed clear differences by individual socioeconomic status (SES), regardless of the SES indicator used ( Figs 1– 5). The strongest disparities in the predicted mean obesity level were seen in education at the highest levels of food price inflation. On average, for every 1‐unit increase in food price inflation, women in the top SES categories had between 0.02 and 0.06 percentage point greater predicted obesity prevalence, compared to women in the bottom SES categories. Conclusion There is robust effect modification by socioeconomic status of the association between food price inflation and obesity in adult women in developing countries. Greater food price inflation was associated with higher levels of obesity in women in the top SES groups, who may be net food consumers most at risk of obesity in developing countries. Support or Funding Information This work was supported by the Canadian Institute for Health Research Postdoctoral Fellowship Award (MFE‐135520). No sponsors participated in the study design, data analysis or interpretation of results.