Objective: This study aimed to investigate the differences in health-related habits, metabolic syndrome risk factors, and related diseases prevalence according to obesity type in postmenopausal women.
Methods: This cross-sectional study used a data set of 1,443 postmenopausal women who were 40 years or older (range = 45-80, mean = 64.10) from the 2016 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey VII-1. The participants were classified into normal group (body mass index [BMI] <25 kg/m, waist circumference (WC) <85 cm), BMI obesity group (BMI ≥25 kg/m, WC <85 cm), abdominal obesity group (BMI <25 kg/m, WC ≥85 cm), and BMI and abdominal obesity group (BMI ≥25 kg/m, WC ≥85 cm). To compare health-related habits and metabolic syndrome risk factors according to obesity type, a chi-square test and t test were performed. The relationship between obesity and metabolic syndrome was assessed using a logistic regression analysis of adjusted demographic and women's health covariates.
Results: The abdominal obesity group had a significantly longer sedentary time per day (524.31 min), a higher activity restriction rate (25.0%), and a lower nutrition labeling recognition rate (3.6%) than the other groups (P < 0.001). The occurrence of metabolic syndrome was the highest in the BMI and abdominal obesity group (66.1%), followed by the abdominal obesity group (59.3%). Compared with the normal group, the prevalence of metabolic syndrome was significantly higher in the BMI obesity group (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 2.23, 95% CI = 1.15-4.31), abdominal obesity group (adjusted OR = 7.33, 95% CI = 4.38-12.25), and the BMI and abdominal obesity group (adjusted OR = 12.44, 95% CI = 8.78-17.62).
Conclusions: In postmenopausal women, the abdominal obesity group was associated with a high prevalence of metabolic syndrome and related diseases. Therefore, to reduce abdominal obesity in postmenopausal women, it is necessary to correct long sedentary time, high activity restriction rate, and low nutritional labeling recognition rate identified as health-related habits of the abdominal obesity group.