Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress 2023 EHA Congress 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

At a glance: The ONWARDS insulin icodec trials

A round-up of the ONWARDS phase 3 clinical trials evaluating the novel weekly insulin icodec in people with diabetes.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
BMC Public Health
Published in: BMC Public Health 1/2012

Open Access 01-12-2012 | Research article

Associations between obesity (BMI and waist circumference) and socio-demographic factors, physical activity, dietary habits, life events, resilience, mood, perceived stress and hopelessness in healthy older Europeans

Authors: Barbara Stewart-Knox, Maresa E Duffy, Brendan Bunting, Heather Parr, Maria Daniel Vas de Almeida, Mike Gibney

Published in: BMC Public Health | Issue 1/2012

Login to get access

Abstract

Background

It is important to understand the psycho-social context of obesity to inform prevention and treatment of obesity at both the individual and public health level.

Methods

Representative samples of middle-aged adults aged ≥43 years were recruited in Great Britain (GB) (n = 1182) and Portugal (n = 540) and interviewed to explore associations between body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), demographic factors, physical activity, dietary habits (FFQ), life events (LES), Resilience (RS11), Mood (MS), Hopelessness (BDI) and Perceived Stress (PSS4). BMI (kg/m2) and WC (cm) were dependent variables in separate multiple linear regression models for which predictors were entered in 4 blocks: 1. demographic factors; 2. stressful life events; 3. diet/activity; and, 4. psychological measures.

Results

In the GB sample, BMI (kg/m2) was predicted by less education, illness in a close friend or relative, frequent alcohol consumption and sedentary behaviour. Among the Portuguese, higher BMI (kg/m2) was predicted by lower resilience. Being male and less education were independent predictors of having a larger WC (cm) in both countries. Within GB, not working, illness in a close friend or relative, sedentary lifestyle and lower resilience were also independent predictors of a larger WC (cm).

Conclusions

These data suggest that intervention to treat and/or prevent obesity should target males, particularly those who have left education early and seek to promote resilience. In GB, targeting those with high alcohol consumption and encouraging physical activity, particularly among those who have experienced illness in a close friend or relative may also be effective in reducing obesity.
Appendix
Available only for authorised users
Literature
1.
Finucane MM, Stevens GA, Cowan MJ, Danaei G, Lin JK, Paciorek CJ, Singh GM, Gutierrez HR, Lu YA, Bahalim AN, Farzadfar F, Riley L, Ezzati M: National, regional and global trends in body mass index since 1980: systematic analysis of health examination surveys and epidemiological studies with 960 country years and 9.1 million participants. Lancet. 2011, 377: 557-567. 10.1016/S0140-6736(10)62037-5.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
2.
Bulló M, Garcia-Aloy M, Martínez-González MA, Corella D, Fernández-Ballart JD, Fiol M, Gómez-Gracia E, Estruch R, Ortega-Calvo M, Francisco S, Flores-Mateo G, Serra-Majem L, Pintó X, Covas M, Ros E, Lamuela-Raventós R, Salas-Salvadó J: Association between a healthy lifestyle and general obesity and abdominal obesity in an elderly population at high cardiovascular risk. Prev Med. 2011, 53: 155-161. 10.1016/j.ypmed.2011.06.008.CrossRefPubMed
3.
Marcellini F, Giuli C, Papa R, Tirabassi G, Faloia E, Boscaro M, Polito A, Ciarapica D, Zaccaria M, Mocchegiani E: Obesity and body mass index (BMI) in relation to lifestyle and psycho-social aspects. Arch Gerontol Geriatr. 2009, 49 (Suppl 1): 195-206.CrossRefPubMed
4.
Lazarou C, Panagiotakos G, Panayiotou G, Matalas A: Overweight and obesity in preadolescent children and their parents in Cyprus: prevalence and associated socio-demographic factors – the CYKIDS study. Obesity Rev. 2007, 9: 185-193.CrossRef
5.
Ball K, Crawford D: An investigation of psychological, social and environmental correlates of obesity and weight gain in young women. Int J Obesity. 2006, 30: 1240-1249. 10.1038/sj.ijo.0803267.CrossRef
6.
Barrington DS, Baquero MC, Borrel LN, Crawford ND: Racial/ethnic disparities in obesity among US-born and foreign-born adults by sex and education. Obesity. 2010, 18: 422-424. 10.1038/oby.2009.212.CrossRefPubMed
7.
Lawder R, Harding O, Stockton D, Fischbacher C, Brewster D, Chalmers J, Finlayson A, Conway D: Is the Scottish population living dangerously? Prevalence of multiple risk factors: the Scottish Health Survey 2003. BMC Pub Health. 2010, 10: art330-CrossRef
8.
Worthy SL, Lokken K, Pilcher K, Boeka A: Demographic and lifestyle variables associated with obesity. Health Ed J. 2010, 69: 372-380. 10.1177/0017896910363330.CrossRef
9.
Kaplan MS, Huguet N, Newsom JT, McFarland BH, Lindsay J: Prevalence and correlates of overweight and obesity among older adults. J Gerontology Series A – Biol Sci & Med Sci. 2003, 58: 1018-1030. 10.1093/gerona/58.11.M1018.CrossRef
10.
Ryff CD, Singer BH, Love GD: Positive health: connecting well-being with biology. Phil Trans R Soc. 2004, 359: 1383-1394. 10.1098/rstb.2004.1521.CrossRef
11.
Urry HL, Nitschke JB, Dolski I, Jackson DC, Dalton KM, Mueller CJ, Rosenkranz MA, Ryff CD, Singer BH, Davidson RJ: Making a life worth living. Neural correlates of well-being. Psych Sci. 2004, 15: 367-372. 10.1111/j.0956-7976.2004.00686.x.CrossRef
12.
Kyrozis A, Psaltopoulou T, Stathopoulos P, Trichopoulos D, Vassilopoulos D, Trichopoulou A: Dietary lipids and geriatric depression scale score among elders: the EPIC-Greece cohort. J Psychiatric R. 2009, 43: 763-769. 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2008.09.003.CrossRef
13.
Stewart-Knox BJ: Psychological underpinnings of metabolic syndrome. Proc Nutr Soc. 2005, 64: 363-369. 10.1079/PNS2005444.CrossRefPubMed
14.
McElroy SL, Kotwal R, Malhotra S, Nelson EB, Keck PE, Nemeroff CB: Are mood disorders and obesity related? A review for the mental health professional. J Clin Psychiatry. 2004, 65: 634-651. 10.4088/JCP.v65n0507.CrossRefPubMed
15.
Weber-Hamann B, Hentschel F, Kniest A, Deuschle M, Colla M, Lederbogen F, Heuser I: Hypercholesteremic depression is associated with increased intra-abdominal fat. Psychosomatic Med. 2002, 54: 274-277.CrossRef
16.
Kim E, Song JH, Hwang JY, Ahn K, Kim J, Koh YH, Park MH, Jo SA: Obesity and depressive symptoms in elderly Koreans: Evidence for the "Jolly Fat" hypothesis from the Ansan Geriatric (AGE) Study. Arch Gerontology & Geriatrics. 2010, 51: 231-234. 10.1016/j.archger.2009.10.014.CrossRef
17.
Rice MC, Katzel LI, Waldstein SR: Sex-specific associations of depressive symptoms and cardiovascular risk factors in older adults. Aging Ment Health. 2010, 14: 405-410. 10.1080/13607860903586185.CrossRefPubMed
18.
Zaninotto P, Pierce M, Breeze E, de Oliveira C, Kumari M: BMI and waist circumference as predictors of well-being in older adults: findings from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Obesity. 2010, 18: 1981-1987. 10.1038/oby.2009.497.CrossRefPubMed
19.
Ucok K, Genc A, Akkaya M, Gonul Y, Uygur R, Mollaoglu H, Songur A: Association Analyses among Anthropometric Measurements, Exercise Capacities, Pulmonary Functions, Lateralization and Psychological Status in Young Adults. Neurology Psychiatry & Brain Research. 2009, 16: 35-40.
20.
Lahiri K, Rettig-Ewen V, Bohm M, Laufs U: Perceived psychosocial stress and cardiovascular risk factors in obese and non-obese patients. Clin Res Cardiology. 2007, 96: 365-374. 10.1007/s00392-007-0512-1.CrossRef
21.
Ho RCM, Niti M, Kua EH, Ng TP: Body mass index, waist circumference, waist-hip ratio and depressive symptoms in Chinese elderly: a population-based study. Int J Geriatric Psychiatry. 2008, 23: 401-408. 10.1002/gps.1893.CrossRef
22.
Hach I, Ruhl UE, Klotsche J, Klose M, Jacobi F: Associations between waist circumference and depressive disorders. J Affective Disorders. 2006, 92: 305-308. 10.1016/j.jad.2006.01.023.CrossRef
23.
Bove M, Carnevali L, Cicero AFG, Grandi E, Gaddoni M, Noera G, Gaddi AV: Psychosocial factors and metabolic parameters: Is there any association in elderly people? The Massa Lombarda Project. Aging Ment Health. 2010, 14: 801-806. 10.1080/13607861003713299.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
24.
Farag NH, Moore WE, Lovallo WR, Mills PJ, Khandrika S, Eichner JE: Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis Function: Relative Contributions of Perceived Stress and Obesity in Women. J Women’s Health. 2008, 17: 1647-1655. 10.1089/jwh.2008.0866.CrossRef
25.
Beydoun MA, Kuczmarski MTF, Mason MA, Ling SM, Evans MK, Zonderman AB: Role of depressive symptoms in explaining socioeconomic status disparities in dietary quality and central adiposity among US adults: a structural equation modeling approach. Am J Clin Nutr. 2009, 90: 1084-1095. 10.3945/ajcn.2009.27782.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
26.
Toker S, Shirom A, Melamed S: Depression and the metabolic syndrome: gender-dependent associations. Depress Anxiety. 2008, 5: 661-669.CrossRef
27.
Luthar SS, Cicchetti D: The construct of resilience: implications for intervention and social policy. Dev Psychopathol. 2000, 12: 857-885. 10.1017/S0954579400004156.CrossRefPubMedCentral
28.
Underwood B, Froming WJ: The mood survey – A personality measure of happy and sad moods. J Personality & Assessment. 1980, 44: 404-414. 10.1207/s15327752jpa4404_11.CrossRef
29.
Simeon D, Yahuda R, Cunhill R, Knutelska M, Putnam FW, Smith LM: Factors associated with resilience in healthy adults. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2007, 32: 1149-1152. 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2007.08.005.CrossRefPubMed
30.
Simpson EEA, O’Connor JM, Livingstone MBE, Rae G, Stewart-Knox BJ, Andriollo-Sanchez M, Toti E, Meunier N, Ferry M, Polito A, Kelly M, Wallace JMW, Coudray C: Health and lifestyle characteristics of older European adults: the Zenith study. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2005, 59: S13-S21.CrossRefPubMed
31.
Wagnild GM, Young HM: Development and psychometric evaluation of the resilience scale. J Nursing Measurement. 1993, 1: 165-178.
32.
Schumacher J, Leppert K, Gunzelmann T, Strauss B, Brahler E: The resilience scale – a questionnaire to assess resilience as a personality characteristic. Z Klin Psychol Psychiatr Psychother. 2005, 53: 16-39.
33.
Beck AT, Weissman A, Lester D, Trexler L: The measurement of pessimism: The Hopelessness Scale. J Consulting & Clin Psychology. 1974, 42: 861-865.CrossRef
34.
Cohen S, Williamson GM: Perceived stress in a probability sample of the United States. The Social Psychology of Health. Edited by: Spacapan S, Oskamp S. 1998, Sage, Newbury Park, CA, 31-67.
35.
Cohen S, Kamarck T, Mermelstein R: A global measure of perceived stress. J Health & Soc Behaviour. 1983, 24: 385-396. 10.2307/2136404.CrossRef
36.
Mooy JM, Bouter LM, de Vries H, Heine RJ, Grootenhuis PA: Major stressful life events in relation to prevalence of undetected Type 2 Diabetes. Diabetes Care. 2000, 23: 2,197-201.CrossRef
37.
Tabachnick BG, Fidell LS: Using Multivariate Statistics (3rd ed). 1996, Harper Collins, New York
38.
Barrow S, Harrison RA: Unsung heroes who put their lives at risk? Informal caring, health and neighbourhood attachment. J Pub Health. 2005, 27: 292-297. 10.1093/pubmed/fdi038.CrossRef
39.
Barry D, Petry N: Gender differences in associations between stressful life events and body mass index. Prev Med. 2008, 47: 498-503. 10.1016/j.ypmed.2008.08.006.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
40.
Malterud K, Tonstad S: Preventing obesity: challenges and pitfalls for health promotion. Patient Edu Couns. 2009, 76: 254-259. 10.1016/j.pec.2008.12.012.CrossRef
41.
Jasen A, Havermans R, Nederkoorn C, Roefs A: Jolly fat or sad fat? Subtyping non-eating disordered overweight and obesity along an affect dimension. Appetite. 2008, 51: 635-640. 10.1016/j.appet.2008.05.055.CrossRef
42.
Duffy M, Stewart-Knox B, Parr H, Bunting B, de Almeida M, Gibney M: Associations between resilience, frequency of food group consumption and anthropometric measures. Proc Nutr Soc. 2009, 68: 150-CrossRef
Metadata
Title
Associations between obesity (BMI and waist circumference) and socio-demographic factors, physical activity, dietary habits, life events, resilience, mood, perceived stress and hopelessness in healthy older Europeans
Authors
Barbara Stewart-Knox
Maresa E Duffy
Brendan Bunting
Heather Parr
Maria Daniel Vas de Almeida
Mike Gibney
Publication date
01-12-2012
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Public Health / Issue 1/2012
Electronic ISSN: 1471-2458
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-12-424

Other articles of this Issue 1/2012

BMC Public Health 1/2012 Go to the issue

Research article

Diabetes susceptibility in ethnic minority groups from Turkey, Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Pakistan compared with Norwegians - the association with adiposity is strongest for ethnic minority women

Research article

Association between stigma, depression and quality of life of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA) in South India – a community based cross sectional study

Research article

Insomnia and urban neighbourhood contexts – are associations modified by individual social characteristics and change of residence? Results from a population-based study using residential histories

Research article

Evaluation of adult dTPaP vaccination coverage in France: experience in Lyon city, 2010–2011

Research article

Medication coaching program for patients with minor stroke or TIA: A pilot study

Research article

Childhood and family influences on body mass index in early adulthood: findings from the Ontario Child Health Study