Institute of Veterinary, Animal and Biomedical Sciences, Massey University, Private Bag 11222, Palmerston North, New Zealand.
Prev Vet Med. 2012 Nov 1;107(1-2):121-33. doi: 10.1016/j.prevetmed.2012.05.006. Epub 2012 Jun 14.
It has been suggested that the prevalence of feline obesity has increased recently in parallel with the prevalence of obesity in the human population. We had previously determined the prevalence of obesity in an urban New Zealand population of cats in 1993. This study was conducted to determine the prevalence and risk factors of obesity in the same population base, one generation (15 years) later. It was also designed to test the hypothesis that the increase in feeding of energy dense "premium" dry foods to cats in the region was associated with any change in obesity prevalence. A door-to-door survey, conducted within the city limits of Palmerston North, obtained data on the environment, diet, health and behaviour of 200 cats. The interviewers used a validated scoring system to assess the body condition score (BCS) of each cat and this was used as the outcome variable of interest. Variables were grouped into four risk-factor groupings for stepwise logistic regression, namely cat characteristics, feeding variables, owner's perception of their cat, and household characteristics. Using the same definition for overweight and obese as that used in the 1993 study (BCS>6/9), the prevalence of obesity was 27%, compared with 26% in 1993. In this study, 63% of cats had a BCS of 6/9 or greater. Variables that were identified as significant from each model (p ≤ 0.1) were included in a combined model. In this model, only three variables were significant: owner underestimation of the body condition of the cat, the cat's leg length, and its age. Thus, we found no evidence to support the hypothesis that the prevalence of obesity in this population has increased, or that changes in feeding practices have affected obesity incidence. The lack of any feeding variables in the combined model is noteworthy. From a population health perspective, the association between obesity and owner's perception of their cat's body condition suggests that more attention should be directed towards 'normalising' the public's view of what a cat's normal body condition is, rather than placing the educational emphasis on changing cats' feeding patterns or food types.
有人认为，随着人类肥胖症的流行，猫肥胖症的患病率最近也有所增加。我们之前已经确定了 1993 年新西兰城市猫群肥胖症的患病率。这项研究旨在确定同一人群基础上（15 年后）肥胖症的患病率和危险因素。它还旨在检验这样一个假设，即该地区猫高能“优质”干粮的喂养增加与肥胖症患病率的任何变化有关。在北帕默斯顿市范围内进行的一项逐户调查，收集了 200 只猫的环境、饮食、健康和行为数据。采访者使用经过验证的评分系统评估每只猫的身体状况评分（BCS），并将其作为感兴趣的结果变量。将变量分为四个危险因素分组，进行逐步逻辑回归，即猫的特征、喂养变量、主人对其猫的看法以及家庭特征。使用与 1993 年研究相同的超重和肥胖定义（BCS>6/9），肥胖症的患病率为 27%，而 1993 年为 26%。在这项研究中，63%的猫的 BCS 为 6/9 或更高。每个模型中确定为显著的变量（p≤0.1）都包含在一个综合模型中。在这个模型中，只有三个变量是显著的：主人低估了猫的身体状况、猫的腿长和它的年龄。因此，我们没有发现任何证据支持这样的假设，即该人群的肥胖症患病率有所增加，或者喂养习惯的改变影响了肥胖症的发病率。综合模型中没有任何喂养变量值得注意。从人群健康的角度来看，肥胖症与主人对猫身体状况的看法之间的关联表明，应该更加关注“正常化”公众对猫正常身体状况的看法，而不是将教育重点放在改变猫的喂养模式或食物类型上。
