Global analysis of overweight prevalence by level of human development

BACKGROUND: Less developed countries are increasingly afflicted with over–nutrition, and the escalating overweight prevalence has become a global problem. However, a problem as global as this may not be amenable to a general set of remedial interventions applicable to all countries. METHODS: I use data from various sources, including the World Health Organization and the World Bank, to test the association of overweight prevalence with economic, social, and demographic indicators. I then split the countries up by human development index to investigate to what extent these associations vary between development levels. FINDINGS: On a global scale, overweight prevalence is most associated with gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, the proportion of a country that is rural, the proportion of elderly in a country's population, and the average years of schooling. At what magnitude, and even in which direction, these relationships go vary with a country's level of development. Generally, GDP per capita has a positive association with overweight prevalence, with the magnitude of such association for countries of very high human development more than twice of that for countries of low human development. However, proportion rural has a negative association with overweight prevalence, with the magnitude of such association for countries of low human development nearly twice of that for countries of very high human development. All four of these variables have statistically significant association with overweight prevalence in countries with low human development. CONCLUSIONS: I make policy suggestions to combat increasing overweight prevalence, based on the models that are developed, paying special attention to the differences in magnitude and direction of the regressors between human development levels.