Naslov
Distinctive Rural/Urban Obesity Patterns in Croatian Roma Population

Autori
Škarić-Jurić, Tatjana ; Jakopec, Martin ; Šimanović, Tia ; Tomas, Željka ; Zajc Petranović, Matea ; Barešić, Ana ; Peričić Salihović, Marijana ; Janićijević, Branka ; Smolej Narančić, Nina

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Sažeci sa skupova, sažetak, znanstveni

Izvornik
The 2015 Obesity Summit: Abstracts / - Hertfordshire : Euroscicon Ltd, 2015, 16-16

Skup
The 2015 Obesity Summit

Mjesto i datum
London, Ujedinjeno Kraljevstvo, 14.04.2015. - 16.04.2015

Vrsta sudjelovanja
Poster

Vrsta recenzije
Međunarodna recenzija

Ključne riječi
obesity; body composition; nutritional transition; minority health; Roma population

Sažetak
The Roma (Gypsy) are the transnational European minority population characterized by poverty, social exclusion as well as by numerous life-style and cultural specificities. It has been hypothesised recently that they are experiencing a transition from traditional to a more sedentary lifestyle with an excess of caloric intake. Such lifestyle changes could have important public health consequences since they are expected to be accompanied with epidemiological transition ; from contagious to common complex morbidities as the major health problem in this population. To explore the evidence of this transition this study focuses on obesity. It aims to compare the anthropometric indicators of obesity as well as the obesity and overweight prevalences (estimated using body mass index, BMI) in urban vs. rural adult Roma living in Croatia (413 participants in total). The two groups - urban (living in Zagreb, the capital of Croatia) and rural Roma (living in Baranja and Međimurje counties) - were matched for their age (40.6 yrs ; p=0.997) and sex structure (46.9% vs. 52.5% men ; p = 0.256). The study has shown that urban Roma have significantly higher prevalence of obesity (BMI 30+) compared to their rural counterparts (36.7% vs. 24.0%, p = 0.005). The overweight and obesity prevalence (BMI 25+) was also higher in urban than in rural Roma (66.8% vs. 57.1%, p = 0.043). Men and women were not different (according to t-test) in their average BMI (27.5 ; +5.3 in men and 26.8 ; +6.2 in women, p=0.222). Urban-rural difference was more pronounced in males: all investigated anthropometrical variables related to obesity showed to be consistently higher in urban men (triceps and subscapular skinfolds, waist, hip and upper arm circumferences) while only two of them (triceps and subscapular skinfolds) showed similar regional differences in women. The study has shown that the Roma population bears a high obesity risk, which is especially present in urban environment and in men. High prevalence of obesity in Roma population, which was recently observed in some other countries as well, indicates health transition of this ethnic group and the necessity of adequate preventive measures.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Biologija, Javno zdravstvo i zdravstvena zaštita, Etnologija i antropologija

POVEZANOST RADA