Political Science Publications Political Science 10-12-2020 Associations of staple food consumption and types of cooking oil with waist circumference and body mass index in older Chinese men and women: a panel analysis Yen-Han Lee Indiana University Yen-Chang Chang National Tsing Hua University Ting Fang Alvin Ang Boston University School of Medicine Timothy Chiang Pennsylvania State University Mack C. Shelley II Iowa State University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/pols_pubs Part of the Food Studies Commons, and the International and Community Nutrition Commons The complete bibliographic information for this item can be found at https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/ pols_pubs/88. For information on how to cite this item, please visit http://lib.dr.iastate.edu/ howtocite.html. This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Political Science at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Political Science Publications by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Associations of staple food consumption and types of cooking oil with waist circumference and body mass index in older Chinese men and women: a panel analysis Abstract Background: The dietary landscape has changed rapidly in China in the past few decades. This research investigates the associations of older adults’ choices and consumption of staple foods and cooking oils with obesity related measurements. Methods: Panel data were extracted from the Chinese Longitudinal Health Longevity Survey from3253 older participants with 6506 observations. Ordinary least squares and ordered logistic regression models were estimated with the outcomes of obesity determined by waist circumference (WC) and body mass index (BMI), respectively. Results: Older men who consumed wheat had wider WCs (β=2.84 [95% confidence interval {CI} 1.55 to 4.13], p<0.01) and higher BMIs (adjusted odds ratio 1.74 [95% CI 1.40 to 2.17], p<0.01) than those who preferred rice. Female participants who used animal-based cooking oil had lower WCs and BMIs than their counterparts who consumed vegetable-based cooking oil. Increased consumption of staple foods was associated with increased rates of obesity in both sexes. Conclusion: Dieticians and nutritionists should design appropriate dietary plans to help reduce obesity and chronic diseases among older Chinese adults. Further clinical trials are needed to continue investigating this topic. Keywords China, cooking oil, dietary shift, obesity, older adults, staple food Disciplines Food Studies | International and Community Nutrition Comments This article is published as Lee, Yen-Han, Yen-Chang Chang, Ting Fang Alvin Ang, Timothy Chiang, Mack Shelley, and Ching-Ti Liu. "Associations of staple food consumption and types of cooking oil with waist circumference and body mass index in older Chinese men and women: a panel analysis." International Health (2020): ihaa074. DOI: 10.1093/inthealth/ihaa074. Posted with permission. Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License This article is available at Iowa State University Digital Repository: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/pols_pubs/88 International Health 2020; 0:1–10 doi:10.1093/inthealth/ihaa074 Advance Access publication 0 2020 Associations of staple food consumption and types of cooking oil with waist circumference and body mass index in older Chinese men and women: a panel analysis Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/inthealth/advance-article/doi/10.1093/inthealth/ihaa074/5921228 by guest on 08 February 2021 ∗ Yen-Han Leea, , Yen-Chang Changb, Ting Fang Alvin Angc,d, Timothy Chiange, Mack Shelleyf and Ching-Ti Liug ORIGINAL ARTICLE aIndiana University, School of Public Health, Department of Applied Health Sciences, Bloomington, IN 47401, USA; bNational Tsing Hua University, Center for General Education, Hsinchu City, Taiwan 300; cBoston University School of Medicine, Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Boston, MA 02118, USA; dBoston University School of Medicine, Slone Epidemiology Center, Boston, MA 02118, USA; ePennsylvania State University, College of Medicine, Hershey, PA 17033, USA; fIowa State University, Department of Political Science and Department of Statistics, Ames, IA 50011, USA; gBoston University, School of Public Health, Department of Biostatistics, Boston, MA 02118, USA ∗Corresponding author: E-mail: [email protected] Received 15 February 2020; revised 15 June 2020; editorial decision 9 September 2020; accepted 18 September 2020 Background: The dietary landscape has changed rapidly in China in the past few decades. This research inves- tigates the associations of older adults’ choices and consumption of staple foods and cooking oils with obesity- related measurements. Methods: Panel data were extracted from the Chinese Longitudinal Health Longevity Survey from 3253 older par- ticipants with 6506 observations. Ordinary least squares and ordered logistic regression models were estimated with the outcomes of obesity determined by waist circumference (WC) and body mass index (BMI), respectively. Results: Older men who consumed wheat had wider WCs (β=2.84 [95% confidence interval {CI} 1.55 to 4.13], p<0.01) and higher BMIs (adjusted odds ratio 1.74 [95% CI 1.40 to 2.17], p<0.01) than those who preferred rice. Female participants who used animal-based cooking oil had lower WCs and BMIs than their counterparts who consumed vegetable-based cooking oil. Increased consumption of staple foods was associated with increased rates of obesity in both sexes. Conclusion: Dieticians and nutritionists should design appropriate dietary plans to help reduce obesity and chronic diseases among older Chinese adults. Further clinical trials are needed to continue investigating this topic. Keywords: China, cooking oil, dietary shift, obesity, older adults, staple food. Introduction been observed and associated with increased body mass index (BMI).3 The health threats of obesity are not limited to only Western in- China is projected to have 115 million people >80 y of age by dustrialized countries. Obesity is rapidly becoming one of the key the year 2050.4 The increasing incidence of obesity among the public health challenges in China. When it comes to unhealthy aging population of China is a worrying phenomenon. In 2013, eating habits among the Chinese, it may appear that the prob- of the 202 million older adults in China, >100 million suffered lem is observed only in younger generations as the result of rapid from chronic diseases,5 with hypertension and diabetes being the Westernization which brought with it a culture of fast food and two leading obesity-related conditions. However, those numbers 1 sweetened beverages. However, poor dietary habits also plague may be underestimates, as many older adults have not been di- older generations in China. Around 50% of the elderly population agnosed due to the lack of a proper medical surveillance system 2 reported consuming salt and oil excessively. A shift towards a in China.6 Some of those chronic diseases also predispose indi- more westernized diet (dairy, fruits, cakes and fast food) has also viduals to mental health disorders. For example, type 2 diabetes © The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by-nc/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. For commercial re-use, please contact [email protected] 1 Y. H. Lee et al. patients are more likely to suffer from depression and anxiety dis- orders in various regions in China.7 To preserve the physical and mental health of older adults, it is pertinent to promote healthy eating habits. Rice and vegetable oils are key components of a Chinese diet and are considered to be healthy foods if consumed in moderation. However, the high Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/inthealth/advance-article/doi/10.1093/inthealth/ihaa074/5921228 by guest on 08 February 2021 intake of white rice is associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes,8 while the excessive consumption of vegetable oils is related to elevated blood pressure and cholesterol.9 In addi- tion, a study of Chinese nonagenarians and centenarians found an association between poor nutritional status and cognitive im- pairment.10 Although previous papers have examined the associations between dietary patterns and obesity among older adults in China,2,3 little discussion has focused on the effects of staple foods and cooking oils, which are the essential ingredients of a Chinese diet, on the incidence of obesity among older adults in China. This research focuses on older adults, including the old- est old—octogenarians and nonagenarians. Currently, nutritional findings in those populations remain scanty but are nonetheless very important in the context of a rapidly aging population in China. A panel analysis is the main statistical method used in this study. In contrast to traditional cross-sectional approaches, the panel analysis enables researchers to evaluate dietary changes over time while accounting for intra-individual variability.11 Such a methodological approach should lead to more reliable