Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-l7hp2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T02:55:46.396Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Patterns and demographic predictors of 5-year weight change in a multi-ethnic cohort of men and women in Australia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2007

Kylie Ball ,
David Crawford ,
Paul Ireland  and
Allison Hodge
Kylie Ball*
Affiliation:
School of Health Sciences, Deakin University, 221 Burwood Highway, Burwood, Victoria 3125, Australia
David Crawford
Affiliation:
School of Health Sciences, Deakin University, 221 Burwood Highway, Burwood, Victoria 3125, Australia
Paul Ireland
Affiliation:
National Institute of Clinical Studies, Melbourne, Victoria 3004, Australia
Allison Hodge
Affiliation:
The Cancer Council Victoria, Carlton, Victoria 3053, Australia
*
*Corresponding author: Email [email protected].
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.
Objective:

This study investigated 5-year trends in body weight, overweight and obesity and their association with sociodemographic variables in a large, multi-ethnic community sample of Australian adults.

Design:

This prospective population study used baseline and 5-year follow-up data from participants in the Melbourne Collaborative Cohort Study (MCCS).

Setting:

Population study in Melbourne, Australia.

Subjects:

In total, 12 125 men and 17 674 women aged 35–69 years at baseline.

Results:

Mean 5-year weight change in this sample was +1.58 (standard deviation (SD) 4.82) kg for men and +2.42 (SD 5.17) kg for women. Younger (35–44 years) men and, in particular, women gained more weight than older adults and were at highest risk of major weight gain (≥5 kg) and becoming overweight. Risk of major weight gain and associations between demographic variables and weight change did not vary greatly by ethnicity. Education level showed complex associations with weight outcomes that differed by sex and ethnicity. Multivariate analyses showed that, among men, higher initial body weight was associated with decreased likelihood of major weight gain, whereas among women, those initially overweight or obese were about 20% more likely to experience major weight gain than underweight or healthy weight women.

Conclusions:

Findings of widespread weight gain across this entire population sample, and particularly among younger women and women who were already overweight, are a cause for alarm. The prevention of weight gain and obesity across the entire population should be an urgent public health priority. Young-to-mid adulthood appears to be a critical time to intervene to prevent future weight gain.

Keywords

Weight changePopulationLongitudinalObesity
Type
Research Article
Information
Public Health Nutrition , Volume 6 , Issue 3 , June 2003 , pp. 269 - 280
Copyright
Copyright © CAB International 2003

References

1World Health Organization (WHO). Obesity: Preventing and Managing the Global Epidemic. Report of the WHO Consultation on Obesity. Geneva: WHO, 1997.Google Scholar
2Kuczmarski, RJ. Prevalence of overweight and weight gain in the United States. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 1992; 55: 495–502.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
3Kuczmarski, RJ, Flegal, KM, Campbell, SM, Johnson, CL. Increasing prevalence of overweight among US adults: the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys, 1960 to 1991. J. Am. Med. Assoc. 1994; 272(3): 205–11.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
4Williamson, DF, Kahn, HS, Remington, PL, Anda, RF. The 10-year incidence of overweight and major weight gain in US adults. Arch. Intern. Med. 1990; 150: 665–72.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
5Flegal, KM, Carroll, MD, Kuczmarski, RJ, Johnson, CL. Overweight and obesity in the United States: prevalence and trends, 1960-1994. Int. J. Obes. Relat. Metab. Disord. 1998; 22: 39–47.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
6British National Audit Office. Tackling Obesity in England. Report by the Comptroller and Auditor General. London: National Audit Office, 2001.Google Scholar
7Hardy, R, Wadsworth, M, Kuh, D. The influence of childhood weight and socioeconomic status on change in adult body mass index in a British national birth cohort. Int. J. Obes. Relat. Metab. Disord. 2000; 24: 725–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
8Rissanen, A, Heliovaara, M, Aromaa, A. Overweight and anthropometric changes in adulthood: a prospective study of 17,000 Finns. Int. J. Obes. 1988; 12: 391–401.Google ScholarPubMed
9Haapanen, N, Miilunpalo, S, Pasanen, M, Oja, P, Vuori, I. Association between leisure time physical activity and 10-year body mass change among working-aged men and women. Int. J. Obes. Relat. Metab. Disord. 1997; 21: 288–96.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
10Sundquist, J, Johansson, S. The influence of socioeconomic status, ethnicity and lifestyle on body mass index in a longitudinal study. Int. J. Epidemiol. 1998; 27: 57–63.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
11Lappalainen, R, Tuomisto, MT, Giachetti, I, D'Amicis, A, Paquet, S. Recent body-weight changes and weight loss practices in the European Union. Public Health Nutr. 1999; 2(1a): 135–41.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
12Seidell, JC. Obesity in Europe: scaling an epidemic. Int. J. Obes. Relat. Metab. Disord. 1995; 19(Suppl. 1): S1–4.Google ScholarPubMed
13Van Lenthe, FJ, Droomers, M, Schrijverrs, CTM, Mackenbach, JP. Socio-demographic variables and 6 year change in body mass index: longitudinal results from the GLOBE study. Int. J. Obes. Relat. Metab. Disord. 2000; 24: 1077–84.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
14Bennett, SA, Magnus, P. Trends in cardiovascular risk factors in Australia: results from the National Heart Foundation's Risk Factor Prevalence Study, 1980–1989. Med. J. Aust. 1994; 161: 519–27.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
15Burke, GL, Bild, DE, Hilner, JE, Folsom, AR, Wagenknecht, LE, Sidney, S. Differences in weight gain in relation to race, gender, age and education in young adults: the CARDIA Study. Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults. Ethn. Health 1996; 1(4): 327–35.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
16Rissanen, AM, Heliovaara, M, Knekt, P, Reunanen, A, Aromaa, A. Determinants of weight gain and overweight in adult Finns. Eur. J. Clin. Nutr. 1991; 45: 419–30.Google ScholarPubMed
17Pietinen, P, Vartiainen, E, Mannisto, S. Trends in body mass index and obesity among adults in Finland from 1972-1992. Int. J. Obes. Relat. Metab. Disord. 1996; 20: 114–20.Google Scholar
18Lewis, CE, Smith, DE, Wallace, DD, Williams, OD, Bild, DE, Jacobs, DR. Seven-year trends in body weight and associations with lifestyle and behavioral characteristics in black and white young adults: The CARDIA Study. Am. J. Public Health 1997; 87: 635–42.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
19Kahn, H, Williamson, D, Stevens, J. Race and weight change in US women: the roles of socioeconomic and marital status. Am. J. Public Health 1991; 81(3): 319–23.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
20Giles, GG. The Melbourne Study of Diet and Cancer. Proc. Nutr. Soc. Aust. 1990; 15: 61–6.Google Scholar
21Australian Bureau of Statistics. National Nutrition Survey: User's Guide, 1995. Catalogue No. 4801.0. Canberra: Australian Bureau of Statistics, 1998.Google Scholar
22National Health and Medical Research Council. Acting on Australia's Weight: A Strategic Plan for the Prevention of Overweight and Obesity. Canberra: Australian Government Printing Service, 1997.Google Scholar
23SPSS, Inc. SPSS for Windows, Release 11.0.0. Chicago, IL: SPSS, Inc., 2001.Google Scholar
24Lahmann, PH, Lissner, L, Gullberg, B, Berglund, G. Sociodemographic factors associated with long-term weight gain, current body fatness and central adiposity in Swedish women. Int. J. Obes. Relat. Metab. Disord. 2000; 24: 685–94.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
25Ball, K, Brown, W, Crawford, D. Who does not gain weight? Prevalence and predictors of weight maintenance in young women. Int. J. Obes. Relat. Metab. Disord. 2002; 26: 1570–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
26Jackson, M, Ball, K, Crawford, D. Beliefs about the causes of weight change in the Australian population. Int. J. Obes. Relat. Metab. Disord. 2001; 25: 1512–6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
27National Heart Foundation of Australia and Australian Institute of Health. Risk Factor Prevalence Study: Survey No. 3 1989, Cities Analysis. Canberra: National Heart Foundation of Australia and Australian Institute of Health, 1991.Google Scholar
28Ball, K, Kenardy, J. Body weight, body image and eating behaviours: relationships with ethnicity and acculturation in a community sample of young Australian women. Eat. Behav. 2002; 3: 205–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
29Flood, V, Webb, K, Lazarus, R, Pang, G. Use of self-report to monitor overweight and obesity in populations: some issues for consideration. Aust. NZ J. Public Health 2000; 24(1): 96–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
30Hill, JO, Melanson, EL. Overview of the determinants of overweight and obesity: current evidence and research issues. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc. 1999; 31(11): S515–21.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
31Hayes, RJ. Methods for assessing whether change depends on initial value. Stat. Med. 1988; 7: 915–27.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed