Association between Excess Bodyweight and Intake of Red Meat and Vegetables among Urban and Rural Adult Chinese in Nanjing, China

The objective of this study was to examine the association of red meat and vegetable consumption with excess bodyweight. This is a cross sectional study, conducted between October 2000 and March 2001. Participants included 23,316 local residents aged 35 and above from 45 administrative villages randomly selected from urban and rural areas of Nanjing, China, with a population of 5.6 million. The response rate was 90.1%. Logistic regression model was used for the analysis. The prevalence of excess body weight, overweight and obesity was 34.1%, 28.2% and 6.0%, respectively. After adjustment for age, educational attainment, family average income, occupational and leisure-time physical activity, smoking, drinking, consumption of white meat, consumption of rice and cooking oil as well as fruits, participants in the moderate or higher level of red meat consumption were more likely to have excess body weight (OR: 1.13 (95% CI=1.02, 1.26) and 1.15 (1.02, 12.9) for males; 1.11 (0.98, 1.25) and 1.25 (1.10, 1.42) for females respectively), compared with those in the lower level of red meat consumption. There was no statistically significant association for consumption of vegetables. Consumption of more red meat was suggested to be a factor contributing to body weight gain in China. For residents who want to have healthy body weight, it is important to consume less red meat in the process of socioeconomic transition. Asia Pac J Public Health 2007; 19(3): 3-9.