Boston University School of Public Health, Boston MA, USA.
Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2010 Mar 3;7:19. doi: 10.1186/1479-5868-7-19.
Several genetic variants are associated with obesity risk. Promoting the notion of genes as a cause for obesity may increase genetically deterministic beliefs and decrease motivation to engage in healthy lifestyle behaviors. Little is known about whether causal beliefs about obesity are associated with lifestyle behaviors. Study objectives were as follows: 1) to document the prevalence of various causal beliefs about obesity (i.e., genes versus lifestyle behaviors), and 2) to determine the association between obesity causal beliefs and self-reported dietary and physical activity behaviors.
The study data were drawn from the 2007 Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS). A total of 3,534 individuals were included in the present study.
Overall, 72% of respondents endorsed the belief that lifestyle behaviors have 'a lot' to do with causing obesity, whereas 19% indicated that inheritance has 'a lot' to do with causing obesity. Multinomial logistic regression analyses indicated that the belief that obesity is inherited was associated with lower reported levels of physical activity (OR = 0.87, 95% CI: 0.77-0.99) and fruit and vegetable consumption (OR = 0.87, 95% CI: 0.76-0.99). In contrast, the belief that obesity is caused by lifestyle behaviors was associated with greater reported levels of physical activity (OR = 1.29, 95% CI: 1.03-1.62), but was not associated with fruit and vegetable intake (OR = 1.07, 95% CI: 0.90-1.28).
Causal beliefs about obesity are associated with some lifestyle behaviors. Additional research is needed to determine whether promoting awareness of the genetic determinants of obesity will decrease the extent to which individuals will engage in the lifestyle behaviors essential to healthy weight management.
一些遗传变异与肥胖风险相关。强调基因是肥胖的原因可能会增加基因决定论的信念，并降低人们参与健康生活方式行为的动机。关于肥胖的因果信念是否与生活方式行为有关，知之甚少。本研究的目的如下：1）记录肥胖的各种因果信念（即基因与生活方式行为）的流行程度，以及 2）确定肥胖因果信念与自我报告的饮食和体力活动行为之间的关系。
本研究的数据来自 2007 年健康信息国家趋势调查（HINTS）。共有 3534 人纳入本研究。
总体而言，72%的受访者认为生活方式行为对导致肥胖“有很大影响”，而 19%的受访者认为遗传对导致肥胖“有很大影响”。多项逻辑回归分析表明，肥胖是遗传的信念与较低的体力活动水平（OR=0.87，95%可信区间：0.77-0.99）和水果和蔬菜摄入量（OR=0.87，95%可信区间：0.76-0.99）有关。相比之下，肥胖是由生活方式行为引起的信念与更高的体力活动水平（OR=1.29，95%可信区间：1.03-1.62）有关，但与水果和蔬菜摄入量无关（OR=1.07，95%可信区间：0.90-1.28）。
肥胖的因果信念与一些生活方式行为有关。需要进一步研究以确定提高对肥胖遗传决定因素的认识是否会降低个人参与健康体重管理所需的生活方式行为的程度。
