Relationship between sedentary time and central obesity in adult Korean men: Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2014

Background. We aimed to examine the association between sedentary time and central obesity in a nationally representative sample of adult Korean men. Methods. We included 1269 participants from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Central obesity was defined as having a waist circumference (WC) ≥90 cm. The ORs and 95% CIs for central obesity were calculated using multiple logistic regression analysis. Results. The mean values of WC tended to increase proportionally with increasing sedentary time quartiles. The prevalence of central obesity increased significantly in accordance with sedentary time quartiles. Compared to individuals in the lowest sedentary time quartile (≤4 hours for a day), the OR for central obesity for individuals in the highest quartile (≥11 hours for a day) was 1.81 after adjusting for confounding variables. Conclusion. We confirmed a relationship between sedentary time and the risk prevalence of central obesity in a representative sample of adult Korean men. A public health intervention to reduce sedentary time is needed to prevent central obesity.