Urban environments and obesity in southeast Asia: a systematic review, meta-analysis and meta-regression.

ABSTRACT: Many environmental factors contribute to the rise in prevalence of obesity in populations but one key driver is urbanization. Countries in Southeast (SE) Asia have undergone rapid changes in urbanization in recent decades. The aim of this study is to provide a systematic review of studies exploring the relationship between living in an urban or rural environment (urbanicity) and obesity in Southeast Asia. In particular, the review will investigate whether the associations are uniform across countries and ages, and by sex. The literature search was conducted up to June 2014 using five databases: EMBASE, PubMed, GlobalHealth, DigitalJournal and Open Grey. Forty-five articles representing eight of the eleven countries in SE Asia were included in the review. The review found a consistent posit

SUBMITTER: Angkurawaranon C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4245122 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature