健康知識、教育程度與肥胖之關係

Health Knowledge, Schooling, and Obesity

鄒孟婷(Meng-Ting Tsou) ； 鄒孟文(Meng-Wen Tsou)

《台灣公共衛生雜誌》 22卷4期 (2003/08) Pp. 295-307

https://doi.org/10.6288/TJPH2003-22-04-06

摘要

目標：本研究的目的在瞭解台灣成年人身體質量指數(body mass index)與主觀體重認知情形，並探討健康知識、教育程度和肥胖之關係。方法：針對2001年7月至12月至台北市立馬偕紀念醫院接受成人免費健康檢查的民眾為研究對象進行分析。實證模型採用普通最小平方法和logit模型來估計肥胖迴歸式。結果：全體樣本中大約有42%的受訪者有不正確的體重認知，這在女性尤其明顯。其中，28%的女性根據BMI的定義屬於標準或過瘦體態，卻主觀認為自己體重過重或肥胖。相對地，僅有10%的男性有同樣的錯誤認知，這顯示肥胖對女性帶來的社會壓力遠比男性來得高。實證結果顯示，愈瞭解肥胖可能引發諸多疾病的民眾，肥胖的傾向愈低，證實了健康知識對健康行為的重要性。而教育程度愈高的女性，肥胖的機率明顯較低。這項發現支持Grossman的假說，顯示教育有助於減少肥胖發生的可能性。此外，肥胖在攝取足夠蔬果的女性中較少出現，年齡則與女性肥胖有正向關係。不論男性或女性，主觀肥胖認知與實際肥胖呈現高的關聯性。職業為白領階級的男性，肥胖的情形則較少見。結論：為了抑制國內肥胖人口增加的趨勢，政府可採取的有效方式是針對低教育程度的民眾加強肥胖之衛教並持續增加教育投資。隨著國人教育水準的提高與健康知識的累積，會更注重體重控制，進而減少肥胖造成的醫療負擔。

關鍵字

健康知識 ； 教育程度 ； 肥胖 ； 主觀體重認知

並列摘要

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to examine the BMI (body mass index) and weight perceptions among Taiwanese and to investigate the relationship between health knowledge, schooling, and obesity. Methods: The survey was conducted at the Mackay Memorial Hospital with a target sample of 40 years and older who participated in the adult physical examination free-of-charge from July 2001 to December 2001. Obesity equation is estimated using ordinary least squares and logit model. Results: It is worth noticing that about 42 percent of the respondents have inaccurate weight perceptions. While 28 percent of females perceive themselves as being overweight or obese even though they are lot, about 10 percent of males have a similar inaccurate weight perception. This indicates that there is a pervasive stigmatization of obesity among Taiwanese women. We find that health knowledge is inversely related to the probability of being obese. Our results also support Grossman's hypothesis that schooling has a direct positive effect on health through reducing obesity. Schooling has a statistically significant negative effect on obesity among females. Older women appear to carry more excess weight, and obesity is associated with lower fiber intake. White-collared male workers are less likely to be obese and the perception of obesity is significantly associated with obesity. Conclusions: Our results suggest that increasing expenditures on general education and provisions of health knowledge could be viewed as effective policies in terms of their roles in reducing obesity.

並列關鍵字

health knowledge ； schooling ； obesity ； body weight perception

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