The College Health and Wellness Study: Baseline Correlates of Overweight among African Americans

Abstract

Overweight and obesity are epidemic in the United States, particularly among minority populations. This epidemic contributes to the development of chronic conditions that occur later in life such as type 2 diabetes and hypertension. Therefore, it is important to identify factors associated with the development of obesity during young adulthood. We conducted a cross-sectional survey among students graduating from a Historically Black College or University (HBCU) in the Mid-Atlantic region. Participants were 392 predominantly African American seniors graduating in the spring of 2003. Data were collected using a self-administered paper and pencil questionnaire which focused on weight, weight management activities, individual and familial weight history, and health status indicators. Participants were on average 24 T 5 years of age and 69% female; over 90% identified as African American or Black. According to NIH guidelines, about 30% of males and 28% of females were considered overweight, 12% of males and 7% of females were considered obese, and 7% of males and females were considered extremely obese. Significant correlates of being more overweight were being married, having children, lower socio-economic status, weight-loss attempts, personal and family history of overweight, and poorer health status. These data suggest that among this sample, the prevalence of overweight and obesity is similar to other populations of young African American adults. Familial factors such as socio-economic status and family weight history were important correlates of overweight. Overweight is a significant problem in this population, and these data should be useful for developing weight loss interventions aimed at young adults.

Body mass index and blood pressure pattern of students in a Nigerian university

“…This is unlike the situation in younger ages, as suggested in this study, where males had higher prevalence of overweight (27% vs 20.9%). The higher prevalence of overweight in young men, have also been noted by other workers [10,11].…”

“…This higher prevalence of obesity in females is found both in young and old persons [8,10,12,13]. In a study involving young African-Americans, obesity was however commoner in males [11]. Except for a study carried out in a rural area in Maiduguri, Nigeria [12], studies in older Nigerians had a higher prevalence of obesity than seen in this study.…”

Food insecurity, socio-economic factors and weight status in two Iranian ethnic groups

“…However, when data were categorized based on the gender (data were not shown in the table), these results were significant in women. This evidence reveals the fact that higher educational levels may have a protective role in weight changes and obesity in women, and upgrading education to a higher level has the most protective effect in weight changes, as found by other studies (Casey, Horton, and Bogle 2002;Levitsky, Halbmaier, and Mrdjenovic 2004;Gary et al 2006;Nelson et al 2007). For example, the schooling factor (defined by exploratory factor analysis to obtain SES) was significantly protective only for young adult females of all racial/ethnic groups in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Wave III: 2000-2001) (Scharoun-Lee et al 2009).…”

Overweight Adolescents and On-time High School Graduation: Racial and Gender Disparities

“…Most past research on obesity focused on its measurements and determinants in the general population or in age-specific, ethnic-specific, or gender-specific sub-populations (Kuczmarski and Brownson 2007;Cook and Daponte 2008;Baum 2007;Hendricks et al 2006;Jalongo 1999;Hawkins 2007). However, more recent research focuses on the health and labor market outcomes of the rising incidence of unhealthy body mass index (BMI) among adolescents (Gary et al 2006;Merten et al 2008;Fletcher and Lehrer 2007).…”