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Introduction: Numerous studies have reported a strong inverse association between BMI and physical activity in western populations. Recently, the association between BMI and physical activity has been considered bidirectional. This study aimed to examine the associations of body mass index (BMI) with physical activity and sedentary behavior and to explore whether those associations were modified by socio-demographic characteristics., Materials and Methods: We conducted a multistage random sampling survey in three districts of Hangzhou, China, in 2012. The International Physical Activity Questionnaire long form was used to collect data regarding physical activity and sedentary behavior. A multilevel mixed-effects regression model was used to assess the associations of BMI with physical activity and sedentary behavior., Results: A total of 1362 eligible people (624 men and 738 women, ages 23-59 years) completed the survey. People who are young or middle-aged and have the highest education level are the most inactive. Significant differences in the associations between physical activity and BMI across socio-demographic groups were identified (sex*BMI, P=0.018; age*BMI, P<0.001; education level*BMI, P=0.030). Women or individuals older than 50 had a higher level of physical activity with increasing BMI. There was no statistically significant association between BMI and sedentary behavior (P=0.450)., Conclusions: The associations between BMI and physical activity were modified by sex, age, and education level in Hangzhou, China.

Extensive studies have discussed the economic and welfare effects of social pensions worldwide, while scant attention has been paid to their nutritional effects, especially in emerging economies. Using multitopic longitudinal survey data of households and individuals in Kyrgyzstan covering four waves of 2012, 2013, 2016, and 2019, this study aims to examine the impact of an old‐age pension on the nutritional outcomes of the elderly and shed light on their underlying mechanisms. Our empirical identification rests on a propensity score matching with difference‐in‐differences estimation design to address the endogeneity problem of receiving an old‐age pension. Overall, the results indicate that receiving an old‐age pension has a significant and negative impact on body mass index and the probability of being overweight for males, while no significant impact of the old‐age pension has been observed for females. Receiving an old‐age pension has no significant effect on expenditure of food consumption, calorie intake, and macronutrient intake, while it significantly reduces the ratio of protein intake to total calorie intake. We also observe significant heterogeneity in the nutritional effect of an old‐age pension across various education levels and income levels; the negative nutritional effect is more salient for elderly individuals who are relatively poor or who have lower education. Our findings provide profound implications for policies targeting improving the nutritional status of rural residents in emerging economies through the implementation of the old‐age pension [EconLit Citations: H55, I15, I38]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With increasing family income, the prevalence of overweight has risen and become a serious threat to individual health and a major public health challenge in China. This study attempts to shed light on the mechanism of income impact on the adult health outcomes of BMI and overweight through five potential channels: nutritional intakes, dietary diversity, dietary knowledge, food preference, and dining out. Using the panel data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS), we investigate the causal relationship between income and health by considering the changes in the minimum wage as a valid instrument to address the endogeneity problem of income in health estimation. The results indicate that rising income increases the adults' BMI and the propensity to be overweight; approximately 15.58% and 16.20% of income impact on BMI and overweight could be explained by the five channels considered, respectively. Among the five channels, dietary diversity plays the most significant role in explaining the income impact. We observe significant heterogeneity in income-BMI gradients across various income quantiles and subsamples. Specifically, income-BMI gradients tend to increase along with income percentiles, and income has a significantly positive impact on BMI and overweight for the male sample but it shows no significant impact for the female sample. • Five important mechanisms of income impact on BMI and overweight are highlighted. • The endogeneity of income is addressed by using minimum wage as an instrument. • Rising income increases the adults' BMI and the propensity to be overweight. • Dietary diversity plays the most significant role in explaining the income impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]