Trends in the prevalence of obesity in employed adults in central-western France: A population-based study, 1995-2005

Objective. The overall trend of obesity prevalence has increased during the last decades, even in France which has one of the lowest prevalence in Europe. The aim of this study was to assess, according to socioeconomic status (SES), whether a shift in the obesity prevalence trends could be observed since the French National Nutrition and Public Health Program was implemented in 2001. Methods. Standardised cross-sectional repeated population-based data from the French Social Security Health Examination Centers in the central-western region of France (n = 339,882). We examined regression slopes (95% CI) of overall and abdominal obesity from 1995 to 2005 according to SES. We also compared slopes within each SES between 1995-2001 and 2001-2005. Results. After standardisation to the French age distribution, 6.9% of men and 6.4% of women were obese in 1995 and 8.9% and 8.6% in 2005, respectively. Abdominal adiposity concerned 5.6% of men and 8.5% of women in 1995 and 9.5% and 14.3% in 2005. Obesity prevalence regression slopes between 1995 and 2005 increased in all SES categories, except management professionals in both genders and office/service personnel male who were stable. Significant regression slopes before 2001 became non-significant afterward in office/service personnel males for obesity prevalence; and for abdominal obesity in manual workers women and office/service personnel (p = 0.05, in men). Conclusions. Our data confirm the overall epidemic rise in the obesity prevalence trends during the last decade, except in management professionals and office/service personnel men. Obesity prevalence trends in office/service personnel and manual workers women for abdominal obesity were also observed to stabilise since 2001. We could hypothesize that the National Nutrition and Public Health Program may partly be involved in this decreasing trend among office/service personnel mainly. Policymakers should take into account these data to assess the effectiveness of obesity prevention public-health strategies in the future. (C) 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.