Abdominal Obesity
Abdominal Obesity Trends in White, Black,
and Mexican-American Adults, 1988 to 2000
Abdominal Obesity Study - Aim
To describe changes in the distribution of waist circumference (WC) and
abdominal obesity (AO) in white, black, and Mexican-American adults from
1988 through 2000.
Abdominal Obesity Study - Research Methods
Nationally representative cross-sectional surveys of adults 20 to 79 years
of age were examined using data from U.S. National Health and Nutrition
Examination Surveys of 1988 to 1994 and 1999 to 2000. Abdominal obesity
was defined as waist circumference 102 cm in men and 88 cm in women.
Abdominal Obesity Study - Results
There was a gradient of increasing waist circumference and abdominal obesity
with increasing age in both study periods in whites and blacks. In men,
the average increase between the study periods in overall waist circumference
in whites, blacks, and Mexican Americans were 3, 3.3, and 3.4 cm, respectively.
The corresponding values in women were 2.4, 5.3, and 3.7 cm, respectively.
In men, the percentage change in prevalence of abdominal obesity between
1988 and 2000 ranged from 5.5 percent in Mexican-American men to 8.2 percent
in white men. In women, there was a 1.7 percent decrease in abdominal
obesity in Mexican Americans, whereas there was an increase of 6.3 percent
for whites and 7 percent for blacks.
This study indicates increasing prevalence
of abdominal obesity in white and black Americans. Without concerted effort
to reduce the prevalence of overall obesity, the increasing prevalence
of abdominal obesity is likely to lead to increased prevalence of metabolic
syndromes in the United States.
Source: Mercer University School of Medicine.
2003
Weight Loss News
Theories about how to lose weight, how to reduce obesity and general weight
management are constantly changing along with ideas about which weight
loss diet program is best and so forth. At present, however, a balanced
diet combined with regular exercise remains the favorite weight loss strategy
of most dietitians and weight loss experts.
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