Relationship between employment status and obesity in a Korean elderly population, based on the 2007–2009 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES)

We investigated the relationship between employment status and obesity prevalence in an elderly Korean, using a nationally representative sample. This cross-sectional study included 2991 participants (1396 men and 1595 women) aged 60 years or older. Employment status was categorized into full-time employees, part-time employees, and an unemployed group, based on a self-reported questionnaire. According to Asia Pacific regional guidelines from the World Health Organization (WHO) and International Obesity Task Force (IOTF), obesity was defined as a body mass index (BMI) ≥ 25 kg/m2. Mean BMI in women was highest in the unemployed group, whereas the mean BMI in men did not differ significantly between employment groups. The obesity prevalence in full-time employees, part-time employees, and the unemployed group were 25.1%, 25.5%, and 27.1% in men and 36.0%, 37.9%, and 40.4% in women, respectively. Compared to the full-time employees, the odds ratios (ORs) (95% confidence intervals) for obesity were 1.172 (0.765–1.795) and 1.164 (0.843–1.609) in the part-time employees, and 1.451 (1.054–1.999) and 1.399 (1.090–1.795) in the unemployed group, for men and women, respectively, after adjusting for age, lifestyle factors (physical activity, alcohol consumption, smoking status, daily calorie intake), socioeconomic factors (education level and household income), and inflammatory factor (white blood cell (WBC) counts). Unemployment appears to be significantly related to a higher prevalence risk of obesity in an elderly Korean population, regardless of age, lifestyle, socioeconomic factors, and inflammatory factor.