The findings of this study suggest that education level may modify the association between lifestyle behaviors and obesity in a nationally representative sample of adults in South Korea. Before adjustment, models revealed that education level was an effect modifier in both men and women for all lifestyle behaviors. In adjusted models, the results differed between men and women. In men, education level was an effect modifier for three lifestyle behaviors: smoking status, risk from drinking alcohol, and energy intake. In contrast, in women, the modifying effects of education were observed in each of the six lifestyle behaviors assessed in this study. Based on these findings, it appears that the modifying effects of education level on the associations between lifestyle behaviors and obesity depends on both sex and lifestyle behavior.
This study also reports that education may have an obesogenic, protective, or no effect at all on obesity, depending on sex and lifestyle behavior. In men, education appears to have an obesogenic effect through its interplay with three groups of lifestyle behaviors: non-smoking, medium or higher risk from drinking alcohol, and under-reporting of energy intake. However, education appears to have no effect on obesity in the remaining nine groups of lifestyle behaviors. In contrast, education appears to have a protective effect against obesity in women, through its interplay with 11 of the 12 groups of lifestyle behaviors. However, education had no effect on obesity through its interplay with a group of under-reporting of energy intake.
Comparisons to previous studies
Previous studies of associations of lifestyle behaviors and education level with obesity have mainly focused on main effects [22, 23]. With respect to the relationship between lifestyle behaviors and obesity, many studies suggest that individual lifestyles may influence obesity risk, in a way that unhealthy lifestyle behaviors increase obesity risk, though the effects may differ by sex. These lifestyle behaviors include smoking [4, 24]; drinking alcohol [5, 25]; leisure-time physical activity [6, 26]; sleep duration [7, 27]; energy intake [8, 28]; and psychosocial stress [3, 29].
A great deal of attention has been paid to the relationship between education level and obesity. These studies could be categorized into several groups according to a level of socioeconomic development and sex [22, 23]. In societies with high levels of socioeconomic development, the relationship between education and obesity in men has been mostly reported as nonsignificant; however, this relationship in women has been observed as mostly negative, according to a study performed in Luxembourg [11]. In societies with medium levels of development, the relationship is largely nonsignificant or positive in men, but mainly negative in women [30, 31]. Finally, in societies with low levels of development, the relationship appears to be positive in both men and women [32].
To date, no studies of obesity have assessed the modifying effect of education on the associations between lifestyle behaviors and obesity. Previous studies have examined the role of education as an effect modifier in the association of wealth or occupation with obesity only in women in developing countries. For example, analysis of a sample of women of reproductive age showed that education protected against the obesogenic effect of wealth in Egypt [33]. Another study examined the interaction between education and wealth on obesity in women aged 15–49 years in low- and middle-income countries [34]. While no effect was observed in three countries (India, Nigeria, and Benin), an interaction was found in four countries (Colombia, Peru, Jordan, and Egypt). In these countries, wealth was associated with increased obesity risk in women with primary education or less, whereas it either decreased or did not influence obesity risk in women with higher levels of education.
Another study of women aged 60 years or more in four provinces in China provided evidence of the interaction between education and occupation on abdominal obesity. In women with no education, the odds of abdominal obesity in the sedentary occupation group were more than double compared to those of the agricultural occupation group, despite the lack of evidence for such a relationship among women with any education [35].
Plausible mechanisms
Several potential reasons may explain the finding that education level may modify the association between lifestyle behaviors and obesity. First, it is possible that a forward causal link exists between or among three variables; i.e., education level, lifestyle behavior, and obesity, such that higher levels of education predict a healthy lifestyle behavior, which in turn predicts reduced obesity [36]. Second, there might be a reverse causal link such that being obese may cause an unhealthy lifestyle behavior, thereby resulting in a lower education level [10]. Third, notwithstanding the three variables, a fourth variable such as peer group, taste, and genetics might be associated with at least one of these three variables. Fourth, an individual may seek not only to have better health but also to consume more goods for personal enjoyment [36]. For example, if a lifestyle behavior, which tends to increase obesity risk, allows an individual to earn more, and thus consume more goods, the individual might prefer such lifestyle behaviors to others that may protect against obesity. Finally, higher education may lead to increased knowledge on nutrition, which has been previously shown to be associated with lower body mass index and lower rates of obesity [37, 38]. Moreover, knowledge on nutrition could explain the observed sex differences, as women may be more health conscious than men, irrespective of their education. This is especially true in regard to certain unhealthy behaviors, such as overeating and smoking [39, 40].
If we consider these five potential reasons collectively, a cross-sectional, two-way association between education level, a lifestyle behavior, or obesity may reflect a complex set of multi-faceted interactions between or among education level, lifestyle behaviors, obesity, and various fourth variables. As a result, depending on demographic group, time, and society, education may be obesogenic, be protective against obesity, or exert no effect at all, in the association between lifestyle behaviors and obesity. In particular, sex-based differences in the modifying effect of education may derive from sex-based differences in unobserved fourth variables. In countries undergoing rapid socioeconomic transitions, such as China, India, and South Korea [41], cultural or religious norms are likely to impose higher costs for obesity on women than on men in both the labor and marriage markets [42, 43].
Public health implications
To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to report a multi-dimensional analysis of the associations between education and lifestyle behaviors in relation to obesity. Though caution is necessary when making policy suggestions based on findings from cross-sectional data, the findings of the current study suggest that increased education may reduce, increase, or have no effect on obesity risk based on the interplay with various lifestyle behaviors, depending on sex.
Increased education in women could protect against obesity through its interplays with most lifestyle behaviors except for under-reporting of energy intake, whereas increased education in men could be obesogenic through its interplays with non-smoking, medium or higher risk from drinking alcohol, and under-reporting of energy intake. This study offers empirical evidence to support studies that have cautioned against unintended consequences of obesity reduction programs through enhanced education [44].
Strengths and limitations
This study assessed data from sample of nationally representative South Korean adults. The sample provided abundant information about anthropometric measures, socio-demographic status, lifestyle behaviors, psychological factors, and diagnosed diseases. The sample also provided detailed information on energy intake. Above all, this study is the first to address the modifying effects of education on the associations between various lifestyle behaviors and obesity.
This study has several limitations. The cross-sectional study design does not allow causal inference to be made about the relationships among education level, lifestyle behaviors, and obesity. Moreover, this study may be subject to a selection bias due to the choice of education level. Some information based on self-reporting could lead to measurement errors and recall bias. Certain characteristics, such as social network, parental obesity status, tastes, genetics, and diet quality, were omitted because of data limitations.