| Title: |
Association Between Educational Attainment and Overweight/Obesity in Eight South Asian Countries: A Systematic Review |
| Authors: |
Dev, Rubee; O’Neill, Zoe; Norris, Colleen M.; Raparelli, Valeria; Sarkar, Swarnali; Pilote, Louise |
| Contributors: |
Canadian Institutes of Health Research; GOING-FWD Consortium |
| Source: |
Asia Pacific Journal of Public Health ; volume 38, issue 1, page 31-43 ; ISSN 1010-5395 1941-2479 |
| Publisher Information: |
SAGE Publications |
| Publication Year: |
2026 |
| Description: |
The prevalence of overweight/obesity (OW/OB-defined by body mass index) in low- and middle-income countries is rising, and the sociodemographic characteristics of the most affected populations are changing. The relationship between education, widely recognized as a gender-related variable, and OW/OB in high-income countries is well understood; however, the impact in South Asian (SA) countries is less clear. This systematic review interrogated the relationship between educational attainment and OW/OB, by searching Ovid MEDLINE, CINAHL, EMBASE, and Web of Science for studies published after 2013, reporting the prevalence of OW/OB by educational attainment in eight SA countries. Data were extracted and the association between education and OW/OB was coded as direct, indirect, null, or U-shaped. A total of 32 studies were included in the review. The mean age was 38.5 years. The prevalence of OW/OB ranged between 4.6% and 64.4%. Females were reported to be at higher risk of OW/OB compared with males. Most of the studies reported women with higher education at greater risk of being OW/OB. SA countries are undergoing substantial transformations in their economic and social frameworks that influence how sex and gender mediate cardiovascular risk factors like OW/OB. Preventive strategies must be tailored to the unique characteristics of the SA population. |
| Document Type: |
article in journal/newspaper |
| Language: |
English |
| DOI: |
10.1177/10105395251409934 |
| Availability: |
https://doi.org/10.1177/10105395251409934; https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/10105395251409934; https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1177/10105395251409934 |
| Rights: |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ; https://journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license |
| Accession Number: |
edsbas.BD93776F |
| Database: |
BASE |