Urbanization and Unfavorable Changes in Metabolic Profiles: A Prospective Cohort Study of Indonesian Young Adults

• Published in: Nutrients Vol. 14; no. 16; p. 3326
• Main Authors: Kurniawan, Farid, Manurung, Mikhael D, Harbuwono, Dante S, Yunir, Em, Tsonaka, Roula, Pradnjaparamita, Tika, Vidiawati, Dhanasari, Anggunadi, Angelica, Soewondo, Pradana, Yazdanbakhsh, Maria, Sartono, Erliyani, Tahapary, Dicky L
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01.08.2022; MDPI
• Subjects: adipokines; Adipokines - metabolism; Adiponectin; Adiponectin - metabolism; Adipose tissue; adiposity; Adiposity - physiology; Adolescent; Adult; Adults; Analysis; Anthropometry; Blood glucose; Body fat; Body mass index; Cardiovascular diseases; Cohort analysis; Communicable diseases; Confidence intervals; Diabetes; Dietary intake; Economic aspects; Economic development; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Food; Glucose; Health aspects; Humans; Indonesia - epidemiology; Infectious diseases; Insulin; Insulin resistance; Leptin; Leptin - metabolism; Life style; Mediation; Metabolism; Metabolome - physiology; Obesity; Obesity - metabolism; Physical activity; Population; prospective cohort; Prospective Studies; Questionnaires; Risk factors; Rural areas; Rural Population; Social aspects; Students; Teenagers; Type 2 diabetes; Urban areas; Urban environments; Urban Population; Urbanization; Young Adult; Young adults; Youth; Indonesia; Germany; adiposity; prospective cohort; adipokines; dietary intake; urbanization; young adults
• DOI: 10.3390/nu14163326
• ISSN: 2072-6643

The substantial increase in the prevalence of non-communicable diseases in Indonesia might be driven by rapid socio-economic development through urbanization. Here, we carried out a longitudinal 1-year follow-up study to evaluate the effect of urbanization, an important determinant of health, on metabolic profiles of young Indonesian adults. University freshmen/women in Jakarta, aged 16−25 years, who either had recently migrated from rural areas or originated from urban settings were studied. Anthropometry, dietary intake, and physical activity, as well as fasting blood glucose and insulin, leptin, and adiponectin were measured at baseline and repeated at one year follow-up. At baseline, 106 urban and 83 rural subjects were recruited, of which 81 urban and 66 rural were followed up. At baseline, rural subjects had better adiposity profiles, whole-body insulin resistance, and adipokine levels compared to their urban counterparts. After 1-year, rural subjects experienced an almost twice higher increase in BMI than urban subjects (estimate (95%CI): 1.23 (0.94; 1.52) and 0.69 (0.43; 0.95) for rural and urban subjects, respectively, Pint < 0.01). Fat intake served as the major dietary component, which partially mediates the differences in BMI between urban and rural group at baseline. It also contributed to the changes in BMI over time for both groups, although it does not explain the enhanced gain of BMI in rural subjects. A significantly higher increase of leptin/adiponectin ratio was also seen in rural subjects after 1-year of living in an urban area. In conclusion, urbanization was associated with less favorable changes in adiposity and adipokine profiles in a population of young Indonesian adults.