Abstract
BackgroundExcess body weight during adulthood has been consistently associated with all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease, and cancer at multiple sites among other chronic diseases. We describe the prevalence of excess body weight and abdominal obesity reported by participants enrolled in Alberta’s Tomorrow Project (ATP).MethodsATP is a geographically-based cohort study conducted among adults aged 35–69 years from across the province of Alberta. Participants completed anthropometric measures and health and lifestyle questionnaires at enrolment. Overweight and obese were categorized as a body mass index (BMI) of 25.0–29.9 kg/m2 and ≥30 kg/m2, respectively. Abdominal obesity was categorized using cut-offs of waist circumference of >94 cm for men and >80 cm for women and waist-tp-hip ratio cut-offs of >0.90 for men and >0.85 for women.ResultsBMI and hip and waist circumference data were obtained from 12,062 men and 18,853 women enrolled between 2001 and 2009. Overall, 76.8% of men and 59.5% of women reported a BMI ≥25 kg/m2. The proportions of overweight and obese were significantly higher in older age groups (p < 0.001). In addition, the proportion of participants reporting being overweight and obese was higher among lower education (p < 0.001) and lower income groups (p < 0.001). Overall, approximately two thirds of men and women in ATP cohort reported abdominal obesity. Overweight, obesity and abdominal obesity were all associated with a history of several cardiometabolic chronic conditions including hypertension, heart attack, angina, high cholesterol, stroke and diabetes.ConclusionA large majority of ATP participants were overweight and carried excess abdominal fat. Strategies to improve energy balance among Albertans are encouraged and may have a notable impact on future chronic disease burden.
Highlights
Excess body weight during adulthood has been consistently associated with all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease, and cancer at multiple sites among other chronic diseases
The present analyses were conducted on a subset of the cohort, which included only the 30,915 participants recruited during the first phase of recruitment (2001–2009) who completed the anthropometric section of the Health and Lifestyle Questionnaire (HLQ) at enrolment
Similar to the results observed in the present study, earlier analyses conducted on the first 11,865 participants enrolled in Alberta’s Tomorrow Project (ATP) showed a higher proportion of obesity in Alberta Tomorrow Project participants than Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) (Cycle 1.1) participants residing in Alberta [7]
Summary
Excess body weight during adulthood has been consistently associated with all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease, and cancer at multiple sites among other chronic diseases. We describe the prevalence of excess body weight and abdominal obesity reported by participants enrolled in Alberta’s Tomorrow Project (ATP). Excess body weight has been consistently related to a broad array of adverse health outcomes including diabetes, cardiovascular disease and multiple cancer sites, among other chronic diseases and all-cause mortality [1, 2]. [4] National surveys conducted by the Public Health Agency of Canada have shown that the prevalence of obesity (body mass index [BMI] >30 kg/m2) is on the rise. The rising rates of obesity in the population are cause for immediate concern from both public health and economic perspectives
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