Abstrak: The authors examined the relationship between socioeconomic status and smoking in Thai adults. A nationally representative sample of 7858 Thais adults (18 years and older) was surveyed during 2004 to 2005. Four demographic/socioeconomic indicators were examined in logistic models: gender, education, occupational status, and annual household income. Overall, 22.2% of the participants were smokers. Men were more likely to be smokers across all age groups and regions. Compared with nonsmokers, current smokers were less educated, more likely to be employed, but had lower household income. When stratified by gender, education and job levels were strongly associated with smoking prevalence among males. A significant relationship was found between annual household income and smoking. Those who lived under the poverty line were more likely to smoke than persons who lived above the poverty line in both genders. The present study demonstrated that socioeconomic factors, especially education level and occupational class, have a strong influence on smoking behavior in Thai adults.

Abstrak: Objectives: I used a semi-parametric analysis of the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and mortality to assess the adequacy of conventional BMI categories for planning public health programs to reduce mortality.

Methods: I linked supplements from the 1987 and 1989 versions of the National Health Interview Survey to the 1995 Multiple Cause of Death File to obtain mortality information. I constructed nonlinear estimates of the association between BMI and mortality using a semiparametric regression technique.

Results: The mortality risk among "normal" weight men (i.e., those in the BMI range of 20 to 25 kg/m(2)) was as high as that among men in the mild obesity category (BMIs of 30-35 kg/m(2)), with a minimum risk observed at a BMI of approximately 26 kg/m(2). Among women, the mortality risk was smallest at approximately 23 to 24 kg/m(2), with the risk increasing steadily with BMIs above 27 kg/m(2). In each specification, the slope of the line was small and volatile through the BMI range of 20 to 35 kg/m(2), suggesting negligible risk differences with minor differences in weight for much of the population.

Conclusions: Traditional BMI categories do not conform well to the complexities of the BMI-mortality relationship. In concurrence with conclusions from previous literature, I found that the current definitions of obesity and overweight are imprecise predictors of mortality risk.