Premium
Obesity predictors differentiating subgroups by gender and income in the U.S.
Author(s) -
Obayashi Saori,
Bianchi Leonard,
Houang Richard,
Song Won O
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.21.5.a302
Subject(s) - obesity , confounding , logistic regression , demography , medicine , population , household income , gerontology , environmental health , geography , archaeology , sociology
The rate of change in the prevalence of obesity differs among sociodemographic subgroups in the US. With aims to identify differential predictors of obesity that can be used in prevention and control of obesity, we tested the hypotheses that lifestyle and reproductive variables, and weight‐related perceptions and attitudes differ among income‐gender subgroups. We analyzed the data of 4,016 healthy US adults over 19y in NHANES 1999–2002, accounting for the complex survey design to obtain appropriate population estimates and standard errors. Logistic regressions were run while controlling for known confounding variables. Age‐adjusted obesity risk increased in low‐ and middle‐income women (OR=2.21 and OR=1.71, resp) compared to high‐income women; but did not differ by income in men. Lifestyle, reproductive, and dietary variables, and weight‐related perceptions and attitudes differentiated the risk of obesity among these income‐gender subgroups. We found that the obesity predictors differ among income‐gender subgroups, although variables that were not considered in this study (e.g., stress, social support) may add new dimensions explaining differential risk of obesity among income‐gender subgroups in the U.S.