Modeling the Mixed Effects of Living Standard and Consumer-oriented Behavior on Obesity

Objective: This study investigates how daily consumer-oriented behaviors affect the prevalence of obesity in the older population in China. The demographic characteristics and living standard indicators are considered to capture the effects of various factors on obesity. Methods: This study employs the discrete choice regressions to investigate the associations among 18 influential covariates and obesity for aging adults in China in 2013. The multi-level nature of collected data is also considered by utilizing mixed-effects models. The data set, including 18,617 randomly chosen observations from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Survey 2013 is used in the regressions. Results: This study concerns the diversity of covariates representing the various daily consuming behaviors relating to the evolving living standard. A statistically significant association was found between the sedentary behavior and obesity for the aged people in China. The result also shows that aging women in China may have an increased propensity toward obesity compared to men. Daily consumer-oriented behaviors, including their influence on physical activity, can significantly reduce the risk of obesity; moreover, some sedentary behaviors, such as prolonged Internet use, likely will increase it. Important behaviors contributing to obesity are identified.