University of California, Los Angeles, School of Nursing, USA.
Ethn Dis. 2011 Winter;21(1):52-7.
The obesity epidemic has become a health crisis in the United States, particularly for minorities. This article reports on the health status and sociodemographic characteristics of morbidly obese American Indians living in rural areas of California.
A cross-sectional randomized household study of 457 American Indian adults was implemented at 13 rural reservation sites throughout California. Data collected included sociodemographics, body mass index (BMI), health status, and health problems. Chi-square tests were used to assess statistical differences among categorical data and ANOVA methods were used for normally distributed continuous variables.
Nearly a majority of females were morbidly obese (11.6%) or obese (37.3%), while males were significantly represented in the overweight (38%) group (P = .0007). The prevalence of morbid obesity was twice the general population (13% vs. 5.9% respectively); average age was 47 years; 35% spoke their tribal language; 87% were enrolled in a tribe; 46% had 50% or more Indian blood; 42% were married; 29% had less than 12th grade education; and the average monthly household income was $2,126. The average weight of participants was 266 pounds (P < .0001). Morbidly obese adults reported more health problems and physical limitations (P = .003) than adults in other BMI categories. Obesity status and health conditions were significant for those with type 2 diabetes (P = .003), arthritis (P = .04) and hypertension (P = .03).
The obesity epidemic in the American Indian population is a severe and a multifactorial problem. The high rate of poor health status among this population should be addressed, possibly by programs designed to increase physical activity.
肥胖症在美国已经成为一场健康危机,尤其是对少数族裔而言。本文报告了生活在加利福尼亚农村地区的病态肥胖美国印第安人的健康状况和社会人口统计学特征。
在加利福尼亚州的 13 个农村保留地进行了一项针对 457 名美国印第安成年人的横断面随机家庭研究。收集的数据包括社会人口统计学、体重指数(BMI)、健康状况和健康问题。卡方检验用于评估分类数据之间的统计学差异,方差分析方法用于正态分布的连续变量。
近一半的女性是病态肥胖(11.6%)或肥胖(37.3%),而男性则明显处于超重(38%)组(P=0.0007)。病态肥胖的患病率是普通人群的两倍(分别为 13%和 5.9%);平均年龄为 47 岁;35%的人说部落语言;87%的人参加了部落;46%的人有 50%或更多的印第安血统;42%的人已婚;29%的人只有不到 12 年级的教育程度;家庭月平均收入为 2126 美元。参与者的平均体重为 266 磅(P<0.0001)。病态肥胖的成年人报告了更多的健康问题和身体限制(P=0.003),比其他 BMI 类别的成年人更严重。肥胖状况和健康状况与 2 型糖尿病(P=0.003)、关节炎(P=0.04)和高血压(P=0.03)患者显著相关。
美国印第安人群体中的肥胖症流行是一个严重的、多因素的问题。应该解决这个人群中健康状况不佳的问题,可能需要通过旨在增加身体活动的计划来解决。