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标题：Prevalence of Obesity and Its Metabolic Correlates Among the Circumpolar Inuit in 3 Countries
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作者：T. Kue Young ; Peter Bjerregaard ; Eric Dewailly 等
期刊名称：American journal of public health
印刷版ISSN：0090-0036
出版年度：2007
卷号：97
期号：4
页码：691-695
DOI：10.2105/AJPH.2005.080614
语种：English
出版社：American Public Health Association
摘要：Objectives. We investigated the prevalence of obesity and the metabolic correlates of different levels of body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference among the Inuit in 3 countries. Methods. Data from 4 surveys of Inuit in Canada, Greenland, and Alaska conducted during 1990–2001 were pooled, with a total sample size of 2545 participants. These data were compared with data from a Canadian population of predominantly European origin. Results. Using the World Health Organization criteria for overweight and obesity, we found that the crude prevalence of overweight among Inuit men and women was 36.6% and 32.5%, respectively, and obesity was 15.8% and 25.5%, respectively. Inuit prevalences were similar to those of the highly developed countries of Europe and North America. As levels of obesity increased, as measured by BMI or waist circumference, the mean values of various metabolic indicators—lipid, glucose, and insulin levels and blood pressure—also increased. However, at each level of BMI or waist circumference, the Inuit had lower blood pressure and lipid levels than did Euro-Canadians. Conclusions. Our data indicate that universal criteria for obesity may not reflect the same degree of metabolic risk for populations such as the Inuit and suggest that ethnic-specific criteria are needed. Obesity is now recognized as a major global health threat. 1 Evidence for the emerging epidemic has been derived from population surveys measuring body mass index (BMI) and other measures such as waist circumference. International and national guidelines, such as those adopted by the World Health Organization (WHO) 1 and the National Institutes of Health, 2 define categories of overweight and obese. Although guidelines are important tools for population-level monitoring, the issue of their applicability and generalizability across ethnic groups and countries, which likely differ in the health risks associated with specific BMI categories, remains unresolved. A meta-analysis of some 33 cohort studies from the Asia-Pacific region with more than 310 000 participants found that substantial risks of cardiovascular events were associated with BMI below the currently defined lower limit of “overweight” (25.0 kg/m²). 3 Recently, the International Diabetes Federation proposed a definition of the metabolic syndrome that recognized ethnic differences by including separate cutoff points for the waist circumference for Europeans, South Asians, and East Asians. 4 We present data on the measurement of obesity and its metabolic correlates among the Inuit, a people indigenous to the Arctic region whose homeland stretches from the easternmost tip of Russia, across Alaska and Canada to Greenland. 5 We use the term Inuit in place of Eskimo as a collective term encompassing various regional groups, including the Central and Siberian Yupik and Inupiat in Alaska, Canadian Inuit, and Greenlanders. These populations are undergoing rapid social and health transitions, with the emergence of chronic diseases such as diabetes and ischemic heart disease, from which they have previously been thought to be “protected.” 6 ^, 7 Data on obesity and its impact are not only important to the health of this specific population but also contribute to the broader discussion of the need for ethnic-specific reference values for obesity.