Exploring the association between climate and overweight in the Argentinian population: a multilevel study

WIRTZ BAKER J; POU SA; ABALLAY LR

Santiago de Chile

Conferencia; 36th Annual Conference of the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology; 2024

International Society of Environmental Epidemiology (ISEE)

BACKGROUND AND AIM: One of the determinants of overweight is a sedentary lifestyle. Studies have explored how weather conditions can facilitate or limit opportunities to engage in active behaviour and affect nutritional status. Climate change and the obesity epidemic are the two leading global issues that impact human health. This work aimed to investigate the relationship between overweight and land surface temperature (LST) in Argentina. METHOD: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Argentina, with data from the National Risk Factor Survey (NRFS) in 2018. We analyzed associations between overweight (BMI≥25) and LST, considering their spatial clustering (n=15586 adults nested into n=23 provinces) fitting a two-level logistic random-intercept model. Individual level variables were extracted from the NRFS database (sex, age, educational level, physical activity level, and fruit-vegetable consumption) and included as adjusted variables. Annual median LST, by province, was obtained from the Google Earth Engine dataset. RESULTS: The prevalence of overweight in Argentina was 33.7%. The highest median LST (21-23.3°C) was concentrated in the north-east and the lowest (2.5-12.2°C) in the south of the country. People living in provinces with higher LST had a lower chance of being overweight (RR=0.98, p=0.005). In addition, the model indicated significant effects of sex, age, educational level, and physical activity level. Multilevel modelling allowed the identification of a significant contextual component (p