Adderley-Kelly Beatrice
College of Pharmacy, Nursing and Allied Health Sciences, Howard University, Washington, DC, USA.
ABNF J. 2007 Spring;18(2):46-50.
The purposes of this study were to (1) determine the prevalence of overweight and obesity among female health science college students, and (2) determine if there is a relationship among certain socio-demographic characteristics and overweight and obesity in this population.
A descriptive correlation design was used to conduct this study.
A convenience sample of 151 undergraduate health science students officially enrolled in College participated in the study. A socio-demographic questionnaire, a digital bathroom scale and a standard tape measure were used for data collection. The socio-demographic questionnaire will be used to obtained demographic data and self report weight and height. The digital bathroom scale and the tape measure were use to obtain measured weight and height respectively, was used to obtain the measured weight and the standard tape measure will be used to obtain the measured height. True body weight will be determined using the Body Mass Index (BMI).
Descriptive statistics including frequencies, percentages and means will be used to describe the characteristics of the sample and to determine the prevalence of overweight and obesity in the sample. Spearman Rho Correlation analysis was conducted to determine the relationship among socio-demographic characteristics and overweight and obesity. ANOVA was calculated to determine if there were differences in BMI based on grade level.
The majority of the sample was female, African American and ranged in age from 18-49 years of age. Over 40% of the sample was overweight or obese (42.8%): 24.3% were classified as overweight with a BML from 25.1 to 29.6 and 18.4% were classified as obese with a BMI over 30. There was no significant difference in BMI among the participants based on grade level. Family history and age were positively correlated with BMI.
The results of this study indicate important if not conclusive evidence that overweight and obesity exist among the sample of predominantly female, African American undergraduate health science students. More research is needed in this area and should include other variables such as childhood obesity, and dietary patterns.
Obesity is associated with many significant health problems. Health care providers should screen for obesity using the body mass index.
本研究的目的是：（1）确定健康科学专业女大学生中超重和肥胖的患病率；（2）确定该人群中某些社会人口学特征与超重和肥胖之间是否存在关联。
采用描述性相关性设计进行本研究。
选取151名正式注册入学的本科健康科学专业学生作为便利样本参与研究。使用一份社会人口学问卷、一台数字体重秤和一把标准卷尺进行数据收集。社会人口学问卷用于获取人口统计学数据以及自我报告的体重和身高。数字体重秤和卷尺分别用于获取测量的体重和身高。将使用体重指数（BMI）来确定真实体重。
描述性统计，包括频数、百分比和均值，将用于描述样本特征并确定样本中超重和肥胖的患病率。进行Spearman Rho相关性分析以确定社会人口学特征与超重和肥胖之间的关系。计算方差分析以确定基于年级水平的BMI是否存在差异。
样本中的大多数为女性、非裔美国人，年龄在18至49岁之间。超过40%的样本超重或肥胖（42.8%）：24.3%被归类为超重，BMI为25.1至29.6，18.4%被归类为肥胖，BMI超过30。基于年级水平，参与者之间的BMI没有显著差异。家族病史和年龄与BMI呈正相关。
本研究结果表明，在以女性、非裔美国人为主的本科健康科学专业学生样本中存在超重和肥胖，这一证据即便不是结论性的，也是很重要的。该领域需要更多研究，应纳入其他变量，如儿童肥胖和饮食模式。
肥胖与许多重大健康问题相关。医疗保健提供者应使用体重指数筛查肥胖。
