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Behavior, Psychology and Sociology

Secular trends in sedentary behaviors and associations with weight indicators among Chinese reproductive-age women from 2004 to 2015: findings from the China Health and Nutrition Survey

International Journal of Obesity volume 44, pages 2267–2278 (2020)Cite this article

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Abstract

Background

Overweight and obesity are rising among Chinese reproductive-age women, while some studies have focused on the relationship between sedentary behavior and obesity in certain populations, none has focused on Chinese reproductive-age women specifically. This study examined secular trends in leisure time sedentary behaviors (watching television time, computer time and reading time, and the total sedentary time) among Chinese reproductive-age women and the association of those behaviors with five weight indicators—body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC) and overweight, obesity, and abdominal obesity status.

Methods

A prospective cohort study was conducted with Chinese reproductive-age women aged 15–49 who had participated in two or more rounds of the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS), and completed the questionnaire and anthropometric measurements. The exposure variables were the average weekly time spent on three leisure time sedentary behaviors (watching television, using computer, and reading) and the total sedentary time (the sum of the above three sedentary time and video game time). Mixed-effect linear models were produced to explore the secular trends of the mean hours of these sedentary behaviors and the total sedentary time after adjusting covariates. Models were also produced to study the effects of these types of sedentary behavior levels on BMI and WC. Mixed-effect logistic regression models were produced to study the effects of the sedentary behavior levels on overweight, obesity, and abdominal obesity status.

Results

The total sedentary time among the reproductive-age women increased over time across most of age, region, educational levels, and income groups from 2004 to 2015. Television hours fluctuated, it increased and then declined over time across most of age, region, and income groups. Computer hours continually increased over time across all age, region, educational level, and income groups. Reading hours gradually decreased over time across most of age, region, educational level, and income groups. Those with a moderate level of television time (14 to <35 h/week) had 1.08 cm larger WCs and were 1.31 times more likely to have abdominal obesity than those with a low level of television time (<14 h/week). Those with a high level of television time (≥35 h/week) had 1.74 cm larger WCs, 0.66 kg/m2 larger BMIs, were 1.50 times more likely to be overweight and were 1.47 times more likely to have abdominal obesity than those with a low level of television time (<14 h/week). Greater computer, reading time, and total sedentary time were not associated with WC, BMI, overweight, obesity, or abdominal obesity.

Conclusions

These findings showed that among Chinese reproductive-age women ages 15–49, secular trends of computer time increased rapidly, reading time decreased gradually and television time fluctuated but showed not much difference from 2004 to 2015. The sharp increase in computer time far outweighed the decline in reading time. As a result, the overall sedentary behavior time of Chinese reproductive-age women gradually increased. These findings provided strong evidence that greater television time was significantly associated with higher BMI, WC, and higher risks of overweight, abdominal obesity among Chinese reproductive-age women. Computer, reading, and the total sedentary time were not associated with those weight indicators.

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Fig. 1: The bar chart of diagonal represents the proportion of overweight (%). The bar chart of dots represents the proportion of obesity (%). The barchart of horizontal dotted line represents the proportion of abdominal obesity (%). The broken line of black dots represents the total sedentary behavior time (h/w).

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2019YFC1605100) . The China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) received funding from US NIH (R01-HD30880, DK056350, R24 HD050924, and R01-HD38700) and from Ministry of Finance of the People’s Republic of China (No. 13103110700015005). We acknowledge all the participants in our study and the staffs responsible for conducting the CHNS.

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  1. National Institute for Nutrition and Health, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China

    Yun Wang, Chang Su, Yi-fei Ouyang, Xiao-fang Jia, Bing Zhang, Zhi-hong Wang & Hui-jun Wang

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  1. Yun Wang
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  2. Chang Su
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  3. Yi-fei Ouyang
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Contributions

YW and HJW conceived and designed the study; YW, CS, YFO, XFJ performed the surveys; YW analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript; BZ, ZHW, HJW contributed interpreted the results and revised the manuscript. All authors approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Hui-jun Wang.

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Wang, Y., Su, C., Ouyang, Yf. et al. Secular trends in sedentary behaviors and associations with weight indicators among Chinese reproductive-age women from 2004 to 2015: findings from the China Health and Nutrition Survey. Int J Obes 44, 2267–2278 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41366-020-00684-3

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