Socioeconomic Status and Gender Differences in TV Viewing and Obesity A Longitudinal Study of Chinese Adults

• In Event: 115 - Section on Asia and Asian America Refereed Roundtable Session and Business Meeting
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 09. Social Stratification in China

Abstract

China’s rapid economic ascendance has led to a rise in its standard of living as well as a substantial increase in its obesity rate over the past three decades. However, relatively few studies have been done to capture the underlying health risk behaviors contributing to socioeconomic status (SES) disparities in obesity cases in China. This study applies fundamental cause theory (FCT) to capture differential health risk behaviors, specifically TV viewing time by SES and how TV viewing time relates to the risk of obesity and body mass index (BMI) by gender. Moreover, Western fashion ideas have spread widely in modern Chinese culture, reshaping norms for the female body and leading to obsessions with slenderness reflecting female beauty. Consequently, Chinese women are more preoccupied with their body size than men. This study proposes that leisure-time TV watching contributes more prominently to SES differences in obesity for women than men. To test these hypotheses, we use longitudinal data from individuals aged 18–55 who participated in the 2004¬–2011 China Health and Nutrition Survey. Linear mixed-effects regression captures the effects of SES on TV viewing time. All analyses are stratified by gender. This study concludes that TV watching time may contribute to SES differences in obesity and BMI for women. It also responds to the perspectives from FCT regarding how obesity disparities reproduce themselves by including cultural perspectives of body image in relation to weight-related behaviors by gender.

Author

• Chih-Chien Huang, Saint Anselm College