Comparison of BMI and Physical Activity Between Old Order Amish Children and Non-Amish Children

Hairston, Kristen G.; Ducharme, Julie L.; Treuth, Margarita S.; Hsueh, Wen-Chi; Jastreboff, Ania M.; Ryan, Kathy; Shi, Xiao-Lian; Mitchell, Braxton D.; Shuldiner, Alan R.; Snitker, Søren

doi:10.2337/dc12-0934

Cited by 13 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…First, OOA are on average considerably more physically active than non-Amish. In a recent study, we measured physical activity levels by accelerometry in OOA and non-Amish children and found OOA children to be 3.3 times less likely to be overweight than non-Amish children and physical activity levels to be substantially higher in the OOA children, with boys more active than girls in both groups, but OOA girls easily more active than non-Amish boys [25]. Moreover, despite comparable levels of BMI, we have also previously reported the prevalence of type 2 diabetes is ∼50% lower in the OOA compared to US Caucasians [7], a result we have speculated may be due to higher physical activity levels [26].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Living the Good Life? Mortality and Hospital Utilization Patterns in the Old Order Amish

et al. 2012

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Lifespan increases observed in the United States and elsewhere throughout the developed world, have been attributed in part to improvements in medical care access and technology and to healthier lifestyles. To differentiate the relative contributions of these two factors, we have compared lifespan in the Old Order Amish (OOA), a population with historically low use of medical care, with that of Caucasian participants from the Framingham Heart Study (FHS), focusing on individuals who have reached at least age 30 years.Analyses were based on 2,108 OOA individuals from the Lancaster County, PA community born between 1890 and 1921 and 5,079 FHS participants born approximately the same time. Vital status was ascertained on 96.9% of the OOA cohort through 2011 and through systematic follow-up of the FHS cohort. The lifespan part of the study included an enlargement of the Anabaptist Genealogy Database to 539,822 individuals, which will be of use in other studies of the Amish. Mortality comparisons revealed that OOA men experienced better longevity (p<0.001) and OOA women comparable longevity than their FHS counterparts.We further documented all OOA hospital discharges in Lancaster County, PA during 2002–2004 and compared OOA discharge rates to Caucasian national rates obtained from the National Hospital Discharge Survey for the same time period. Both OOA men and women experienced markedly lower rates of hospital discharges than their non-Amish counterparts, despite the increased lifespan.We speculate that lifestyle factors may predispose the OOA to greater longevity and perhaps to lesser hospital use. Identifying these factors, which might include behaviors such as lesser tobacco use, greater physical activity, and/or enhanced community assimilation, and assessing their transferability to non-Amish communities may produce significant gains to the public health.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Living the Good Life? Mortality and Hospital Utilization Patterns in the Old Order Amish

et al. 2012

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“…Additionally, the Jirel children and adolescents who are part of this study walked to and from their homes and school each day. The lifestyle of these Jirel children and adolescents is similar to that of Old Order Amish children (Hairston et al, ): household and farming chores, outdoor play, and walking to/from school. Electronics and television are becoming more common in Jiri, but they do not consume the amount of time that they do in urban Nepal or in Western contexts.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 83%

Quantitative physical activity assessment of children and adolescents in a rural population from Eastern Nepal

Williams

Subedi

Jha

et al. 2015

American J Hum Biol

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“…Despite higher mean body mass index than observed in non-Amish populations, the Amish seem to have better health including lower rates of diabetes 30 which has been attributed to more active lifestyle and lower rates of childhood obesity. 30–32 While these differences present some limitations on generalizability of the findings, the Amish also represent a strength of the study. The Amish participants exhibit little variability in lifestyle, race, income, education, or geographic location.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Vitamin and Supplement Use among Old Order Amish: Sex-Specific Prevalence and Associations with Use

Reed¹,

Reed²,

McArdle³

et al. 2015

Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics

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Background Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in the form of vitamin and supplement use is increasingly prevalent in the United States. The interplay between CAM use and use of conventional medications is not well studied. We examined this issue in the Old Order Amish (OOA), a population lacking several factors known to influence supplement use, whose culture and barriers to conventional medications may result in high rates of supplement use. Objective We characterized the patterns of supplement use in the OOA, including the extent to which CAM use aggregates in families, and assessed whether higher use of supplements is associated with lower medication use. Design We conducted a cross-sectional study of conventional medications and supplements in 2,372 adult Amish from the Lancaster County, PA area. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews. Supplements were subcategorized as herbal versus vitamin/mineral supplements. Results Seventy-seven percent of all Amish adults reported current supplement use, whereas 22% reported medication use. Women used supplements more often and used more supplements than men, and familial aggregation of supplement use was stronger in family pairs involving women. Supplement use was associated with lower medication use after controlling for age, sex, BMI, and self-reported histories of hypertension, diabetes, and hyperlipidemia (adjusted OR 0.96, 95% CI 0.92 to 1.00, p=0.047). This association was driven primarily by use of herbal supplements (adjusted OR 0.94, 05% CI 0.89 to 0.99, p=0.025) as vitamin/mineral supplements were not associated with different use of medication (adjusted OR 0.99, 95% CI 0.90 to 1.09, p=0.8). In analyses limited to cardiovascular medications and cardiovascular supplements in participants with hyperlipidemia, hypertension, or diabetes, supplement use was not associated with conventional medication use. Conclusions The Old Order Amish take dietary supplements much more frequently than they use conventional medications, particularly women. Use of herbal supplements is associated with less use of conventional medications whereas vitamin/mineral supplement use is not.

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Comparison of BMI and Physical Activity Between Old Order Amish Children and Non-Amish Children

Cited by 13 publications

References 18 publications

Living the Good Life? Mortality and Hospital Utilization Patterns in the Old Order Amish

Living the Good Life? Mortality and Hospital Utilization Patterns in the Old Order Amish

Quantitative physical activity assessment of children and adolescents in a rural population from Eastern Nepal

Vitamin and Supplement Use among Old Order Amish: Sex-Specific Prevalence and Associations with Use

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