Prevalence and correlates of excess body weight in university students
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1590/1980-0037.2021v23e78433Abstract
This study aimed to identify the prevalence of excess body weight in university students from a representative state in Brazil's southern region and establish associations with the demographic, university environment, and health behavior correlates. A random sample of 5,310 university students answered an online questionnaire with demographic, university environment, and eight health behavior data. Excess body weight was identified using the body mass index (BMI ? 25 kg/m2). The data were processed using bivariate analysis and hierarchical multiple regression. The overall prevalence of excess body weight exposure was equivalent to 39.1% [35.7-42.6], with significantly different rates between gender, age, and marital status. Likewise, housing type and study year showed significant associations with excess body weight. Among health behavior indicators, with control of all other variables involved in the model, depressive symptoms (p = 0.031), high stress (p = 0.045), sleep duration < 6 hours/night (p < 0.001), moderate-vigorous physical activity < 150 min/week (p = 0.022) and fruit/vegetable consumption < 5 servings per day (p < 0.001) were independently associated with the outcome. However, tobacco use, binge drinking, and prescription drug misuse did not remain in the adjusted multivariate model. In conclusion, the findings emphasize the importance of proposing and implementing multifaceted preventive intervention actions to prevent health outcomes related to excess body weight, once since significant associations with modifiable factors have been identified.
References
Peltzer K, Pengpid S, Samuels TA, et al. Prevalence of overweight/obesity and its associated factors among university students from 22 countries. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2014;11(7):7425-41.
Sa J, Cho BY, Chaput JP, Chung J, Choe S, Gazmararian JA, et al. Sex and racial/ethnic differences in the prevalence of overweight and obesity among U.S. college students, 2011-2015. J Am Coll Health 2019; Nov 5;1-9.
Plotnikoff RC, Costigan SA, Williams RL, Hutchesson MJ, Kennedy SG, Robards SL, et al. Effectiveness of interventions targeting physical activity, nutrition and healthy weight for university and college students: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act 2015; 12:45.
Whatnall MC, Patterson AJ, Brookman S, Convery P, Swan C, Pease S, et al. Lifestyle behaviors and related health risk factors in a sample of Australian university students. J Am Coll Health 2019; 68(7):734-41.
Costa LCF, Vasconcelos FAG. Prevalence and factors associated with nutritional status among female university students in Florianopolis, SC. Rev Bras Cineantropom Desempenho Hum 2013; 15(3):326-37.
Silva GG, Pereira MS, Cruz RMM, Campos W. Overweight and physical activity practice associated with eating behavior of Brazilian college students. Nutr Hosp 2015; 32:616-21.
Sousa TF, Barbosa AR. [Prevalence of body weight excess in undergraduate students: analysis of repeated surveys]. Rev Bras Epidemiol 2017; 20(4):586-97.
Guh DP, Zhang W, Bansback N, Amarsi Z, Birmingham CL, Anis AH. The incidence of co-morbidities related to obesity and overweight: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Public Health 2009; 9:88.
Dai H, Alsalhe TA, Chalghaf N, Riccò M, Bragazzi NL, Wu J. The global burden of disease attributable to high body mass index in 195 countries and territories, 1990–2017: An analysis of the Global Burden of Disease Study. PLoS Med 2020; 17(7): e1003198.
Ananthapavan J, Sacks G, Moodle M, Carter R. Economic of obesity learning from the past to contribute to a better future. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2014; 11(4):4007-25.
Global Burden of Disease 2019 Risk Factors Collaborators. Global burden of 87 risk factors in 204 countries and territories, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. Lancet 2020; 396(10258): 1223-49.
Nelson TF, Gortmaker SL, Subramanian SV, Cheung L, Wechsler H. Disparities in overweight and obesity among US college students. Am J Health Behav 2007; 31(4):363-73.
Wengreen HJ, Moncur C. Change in diet, physical activity, and body weight among young-adults during the transition from high school to college. Nutr J 2009; 8(1):1-7.
World Health Organization. Obesity: Preventing and Managing the Global Epidemic. Report of a World Health Organization Consultation. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2000. p. 256. WHO Obesity Technical Report Series, n. 284.
Rahn RN, Pruitt B, Goodson P. Utilization and limitations of the American College Health Association’s National College Health Assessment instrument: a systematic review. J Am Coll Health 2016; 64(3):214-37.
Guedes DP, Silva ALS. National College Health Assessment II: psychometric properties and concordance attributes of printed and online formats. Saude Pesq 2020; 13(1):143-55.
WHO – World Health Organization. Physical status: the use and interpretation of anthropometry. Geneva: WHO, 1995.
IBGE – Instituto Brasileiros de Geografia e Estatística. Pesquisa Nacional de Saúde – 2019. Atenção Primária à Saúde e Informações Antropométricas. Coordenação de Trabalho e Rendimento. Rio de Janeiro: IBGE. 2020.
Yang T, Yu L, Barnett R, Jiang S, Peng S, Fan Y, Li L. Contextual influences affecting patterns of overweight and obesity among university students: a 50 universities population-based study in China. Int J Health Geogr 2017; 16(1):18.
Gordon-Larsen P, Adair LS, Nelson MC, Popkin BM. Five-year obesity incidence in the transition period between adolescence and adulthood: The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Am J Clin Nutr 2004; 80(3):569-75.
Janghorbani M, Amini M, Rezvanian H, Gouya MM, Delavari A, Alikhani S, Mahdavi A. Association of body mass index and abdominal obesity with marital status in adults. Arch Iran Med 2008; 11:274-81.
Barnes S, Brown K, McDermott R, Bryant CA, Kromrey J. Perceived parenting style and the eating practices of college freshmen. Am J Health Educ 2012; 43(1):8-17.
Dare S, Mackay DF, Pell JP. Relationship between smoking and obesity: a cross-sectional study of 499,504 middle-aged adults in the UK general population PLoS One 2015; 10(4):e0123579.
Traversy G, Chaput JP. Alcohol consumption and obesity: an update. Curr Obes Rep 2015; 4(1):122-30.
Rajan TM, Menon V. Psychiatric disorders and obesity: A review of association studies. J Postgrad Med. 2017; 63(3):182-190.
Tomiyama AJ. Stress and obesity. Annual Review of Psychology 2019; 70(1):703-18.
Beccuti G, Pannain S. Sleep and obesity. Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care 2011; 14(4):402-12.
Dankel SJ, Loenneke JP, Loprinzi PD. Health outcomes in relation to physical activity status, overweight/obesity, and history of overweight/Obesity: a review of the WATCH paradigm. Sports Med 2017; 47(6):1029-34.
Kalmpourtzidou A, Eilander A, Talsma EF. Global vegetable intake and supply compared to recommendations: a systematic review. Nutrients 2020; 12(6):1558.
Sousa TF, Barbosa AR. Validade das medidas referidas de massa corporal e estatura em universitários. ABCS Health Sci 2016; 41(2):71-7.
