Greater Odds Of Obesity Research Articles

Overweight and Obesity in Long-Term Breast Cancer Survivors: How Does Sexual Orientation Impact BMI?

In noncancer populations lesbians have greater odds of obesity compared with heterosexual women, suggesting a similar pattern among cancer survivors. Weight of cancer survivors is an important area of study because obesity is associated with an increased risk of recurrence and shorter survival. Sixty-nine lesbian and bisexual and 257 heterosexual survivors of breast cancer were recruited to participate in a one-time telephone survey. Multinomial logit models do not support disparities in obesity due to sexual orientation. Our findings in breast cancer survivors suggest that lesbians are more likely to improve their weight-related behaviors after cancer than heterosexual women.

Energy-intake and activity risk factors for owner-perceived obesity in a defined population of Swedish dogs

Our main objective was to obtain baseline data on daily metabolisable energy (ME) intake, activity, and risk factors for obesity in a population of 460 privately owned Swedish dogs in 1999. A previously validated mail-and-telephone questionnaire was used ( Sallander et al., 2001a). The dogs were of 124 breeds, 1–3 years old, and had body weights (BW) between 1 and 75 kg. The ME intakes of this population could be described with the equation ME intake (kilojoules, kJ/d) = 554BW 0.66 ( r sp = 0.73, P = 0.0001). The energy intake originating from commercial foods was 79% (median, range 45–97). Table foods generally had a higher fat content (median 13 g/megajoule, MJ, range 1–122) than commercial foods (median 8 g/MJ, range 2–18; P = 0.0001). The median energy density was 1603 kJ/100 g (median; range 1106–2105). Almost all (97%) dogs were taken for walks, and there was a significant difference between the duration of the walks during weekdays and weekends (medians 60 and 90 min/d, respectively, P = 0.006). Sixty percent of all dogs were trained in activities such as obedience (31%), hunting (27%) or tracking (18%) for a median of 35 min/d (range 1–146). The final regression model for obesity included the factors sex, appetite and feeding a home-made diet/table foods. Dogs that were perceived to have good or very good appetite had 3.42-fold greater odds for obesity than individuals with bad or very bad appetite (95% CI 1.19–9.80; P = 0.022). Females had 2.17-fold greater odds of being obese than males did (95% CI 1.30–3.70; P = 0.003). Also, dogs fed table foods or home-made diets had 2.06-fold greater odds of obesity than those that were not given these food items (95% CI 0.97–4.35; P = 0.050).

Violence from parents in childhood and obesity in adulthood: Using food in response to stress as a mediator of risk

Guided by a life course perspective and concepts from models of stress and coping, this study tested the extent to which self-reported profiles of physical and psychological violence in childhood from parents were associated with greater odds of obesity in adulthood. This study also examined the extent to which adults' greater use of food in response to stress served as a mediator of potential associations of risk. Multivariate regression models were estimated using data from 1650 respondents in the 1995–2005 National Survey of Midlife in the U.S. (MIDUS). Results indicated that respondents who reported having experienced both psychological and physical violence from parents—with at least one type of violence having reportedly occurred frequently—were more likely to be classified as obese in contrast to respondents who reported never having experienced either type of violence from parents. Evidence from a sequence of models that tested mediation effects indicated that greater use of food in response to stress among respondents with problematic histories of violence explained, in part, their higher risk of adult obesity. Findings contribute to the growing body of evidence regarding psychosocial predictors of obesity, as well as the physical health consequences of childhood family violence. Results further suggest the importance of addressing particular aspects of life course social relationships—such as violence in childhood from parents—and their implications for psycho-behavioral uses of food within efforts to reduce rates of adult obesity.