Effect of kimchi consumption on obesity by BMI and abdominal obesity in Korean adults

Abstract

Background and objectives: The prevention of obesity is a significant public health goal because obesity is associated with hyperlipidemia, metabolic syndrome, and type 2 diabetes. Previous animal studies show probiotic lactic acid bacteria derived from kimchi affected anti-obesity. However, only a few epidemiological studies have investigated the association between kimchi consumption and obesity. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the relationship between kimchi consumption and obesity in Korean adults. Methods: Data was collected from 38 general hospitals and health examination centers from 2004 to 2013. A total of 119,224 participants (37,499 in men and 81,725 in women) aged 40 to 69 years were available for this cross-sectional study. Obese by body mass index (BMI, kg/m2) was defined as 25≦BMI(classⅠ obese 25≦BMI<30 and classⅡ obese 30≦BMI), and abdominal obesity was defined as 90≦waist circumference (WC) in men and 85≦WC in women. The validated FFQ was used to assess kimchi consumption. Total kimchi included cabbage kimchi, radish kimchi, watery kimchi, and other kimchi. A multivariable logistic regression analysis model was used to estimate the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of obesity according to kimchi consumption. Results: The prevalence of obesity was 28.2% (35.9% in men and 24.6% in women) in this study. After controlling for potential confounders, women with higher cabbage kimchi consumption (≧150g/day) had 8% lower odds of classⅠ obese (OR: 0.922; 95% CI: 0.857-0.992) and 23% lower odds of classⅡ obese (OR: 0.774; 95% CI: 0.633-0.945) as compared with consumed<50g/day. In both men and women, participants who consumed radish kimchi≧median (25.0g/day in men, and 10.7g/day in women) were inversely associated with lower odds of abdominal obesity (OR: 0.915; 95% CI: 0.840-0.997 in men, and OR: 0.912; 95% CI: 0.863-0.963 in women) compared to nonconsumers. Conclusions: Consumption of total kimchi was not clearly shown to be associated with obesity and abdominal obesity. However, cabbage kimchi was associated with lower obesity prevalence in women, and radish kimchi was associated with a lower prevalence of abdominal obesity in both men and women.