Torres, Mina and Azen, Stanley and Varma, Rohit (2006) PREVALENCE OF OBESITY AND ASSOCIATED CO-MORBID CONDITIONS IN A POPULATION-BASED SAMPLE OF PRIMARILY URBAN MEXICAN AMERICANS. Ethnicity & Disease, 16 (2). pp. 362-369. ISSN 1049-510X

Abstract

Objective: To estimate the prevalence and risk factors of obesity in a sample of primarily urban Mexican Americans (the fastest growing segment of the US population), and to examine the association between obesity and co-morbid conditions. Methods: Subjects were participants from a cross-sectional, population-based prevalence study. Data were collected on 6038 noninstitutionalized self-identified Latinos of primarily Mexican American ancestry age $40 years from six census tracts in Los Angeles County, California. Obesity was defined having a body mass index $30.0 kg/m2. Results: The overall prevalence of obesity was 50% (females 54% vs males 43%, P,.0001). Stepwise logistic regression analyses revealed that obesity was positively associated with being a former smoker (OR 1.5, P5.0009), being unemployed (OR 1.5, P,.0001), and with female sex (OR 1.3, P5.02). Obesity was negatively associated with being single or divorced (OR .8, P5.014), being a current smoker (OR .6, P,.0001), and with age $70 years (OR .4, P,.0001). After adjusting for sex and age, obesity was significantly associated with the following systemic comorbidities: hypertension, heart failure, arthritis, diabetes, angina, back pain, and asthma (P,.01). Conclusion: Because of the high prevalence of obesity and its associated systemic co- morbidities, an evaluation of current intervention programs is needed to determine the most effective approach to help decrease the prevalence of obesity and the risk of associated co-morbidities in this the fastest growing segment of the US population.

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