Increasing Weight of Women in Rapidly Developing and Transition
Countries
Authors: D.E.
Sahn
Publisher: Poverty,
inequality and development research at Cornell University, 2007
Is the increase in body mass index (BMIs) observed in the population a
phenomenon that is affecting the entire distribution of the population, or is it
those who are near or already overweight or obese who are witnessing a gain in
their BMIs? Recent estimates indicate that over one billion adults are
overweight. This growing public health challenge is not confined to developed
countries. However, relatively few comparative studies exist that measure
differences in prevalence of obesity across large numbers of counties and across
time, at least based on representative national surveys and data collection
efforts that are comparable.
This paper examines changes over time in terms of the extent of obesity
among women in 41 countries for which there are comparable nationally
representative data in the form of the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS).
The paper finds evidence of a dramatic increase in the share of women who are
overweight in developing and transition economies, especially in Latin America
and the Middle East. Urban rates of overweight, measured by the body mass index
(BMI), are also far higher than those in rural areas. It is also clear that the
distribution of women’s BMIs in most countries is becoming markedly less
equitable, and that this increase in univariate inequality is driven largely by
the increase in BMIs among overweight and obese women.
This is somewhat analogous to the often discussed “rich get richer” story. A related finding is that in many countries there is a marked increase in the prevalence of clinically overweight women due to changes in the shape of the BMI distribution.